MASS

The wafer given soft and slim:
not Flesh-- Him--
Bone and Blood and Ghost and All
to celebrate the Descent
of Rerisen Christ
(the history of Man is written in these silent messages).

He sees the silk cushions,
the red draped hall,
the wooden door,
the iron stall,
the forest
and cave
(the entry to purgatory).

The music creeps through the walls,
surrounds the perfume clouds
that rise and fall:
in and out
in and out                I rise!
in and out                I come!
in and out                I die!
in and out                I lie spent.
in and out                I fall.
Out.                          I rise.

The lover awakens from a coma
and touches the breast next to his .
(Theology in motion).
They cried for all the world to see:
They touched each other’s dreams.

The picture spins,
is lost, is sought,
is rescued thrice,
is drowned in mistrust
(Pretty pictures on a chandelier).
Our lives, our limbs have connected,
have intertwined in restless motion,
have sought to have known all,
have drawn out all feeling,
all seeing sights,
have given * in return,
have burned.

The priest raises his hands:
A Man lifts up:
A Spirit flies down/
A stomach twists;
A clown smiles;
A child voices protest;
A finger stretches,
separates from hand/
Eyes glaze, fade, fade...

fade...

A fate awaits
(put practice in motion).

-- Robert Fabre