The Priest
The Priest
Original Text
Pier Giorgio Di Cicco, The Honeymoon Wilderness (Toronto: The Manfield Press, 2002): 13.
1i am not really there.
2that is what tires me. invisibility.
4it is not being there. leaving your body at home.
5looking forward to it.
6it is being whoever they think, the clothes they put
7on you, their love their hate, their father;
8whoever they need; it is the ultimate acting,
9with Christ moving your lips.
10in one sense it should be tireless,
11but it is like being in the air too long;
12you could almost want to move through
13household furniture and have supper
14but not belonging has taken you to an abstract.
15you are perfect for it.
16when you learned to love something in everyone,
17you were done for. a lease for
18Christ. and you thought you were
19going to the party as yourself.
20one day you almost miss the man you were,
21the body at the house.
22what would you say to him?
23rise, own yourself, forget what you know?
24what is the kiss that wakes him?
25what kind of stories does he like to hear?
26what do you say to an exhumed ghost?
27he gave his life for you that you might be
28invisible, like this;
29butterfly, the colour of everyone's
30heart, what do you want of the corpse
31you escaped?
Notes
3] persona cristi: one through whom Christ acts and speaks. Back to Line
Publication Start Year
2002
RPO poem Editors
Ian Lancashire
RPO Edition
2003
Rhyme
Special Copyright
Copyright Pier Giorgio Di Cicco 2002