Chalecedony, chrysoprase, lapis, onyx:
the great bowl of the St. Lawrence
changes -- water in the net of its surface
is first deeper than twilight then softer
as the sky slides past it -- the air deep blue
and the water blue green
and luminous. Amethyst, serpentine,
sapphire, sardonyx. In the great vision,
the gates of heaven are lined in five
and seven stones -- imagine the seer
struck down in the gold bowl of dessert,
the scorched sky flamed like heated copper.
Carnelian, topaz, bloodstone, janith.
Imagine the sleeper heated like copper, or
imagine that he woke to dessert rain, to roses,
to vipers nestled in for warmth, and water
pooled beneath him like a shadow.
Imagine that he wrote sick but tasting honey,
his feet wet, wild bees
in mouth and pockets. We live beside
a world of strangeness, the bee world
of the blazoned roses. Carnelian, topaz,
its gates slide into us. Serpentine, emerald,
the moment opens. The morning stands translated:
In a dream I walk down stairs.
I wake, and walk down stairs.
_________________
An early draft of a poem that feels problematic to me. Possibly because the idea is complex. Possibly because the phone rang four times while I was trying to write it. The ending is after Anne Carson's lecture on Saturday: astonishingly we have the same first memory, about waking up from a dream about going down the stair and going down the stair, how different the room looks....
The great vision is of course the Revelation of John the Divine. See Rev 21:19 for an astonishing list of precious stones, some of doubtful translation.
Erin, - you are an incredible poet. I just wanted to tell you that. I love the delicacy of your words, and how they are just on. They string together so lovingly. Relaxed, gentle, useful and perfect for the things they describe. It's like they are part of it. Much, I suppose, like the way a carver of wood might let the shape of an object be determined by the particular piece of wood, coming out of the grain easily and well. I've been following your site for a while now, and I just couldn't keep it in any longer :) "Seal up the Thunder" may just be the most brilliant title I've heard. I love it. :) anyways, I am glad you are doing your work.