The Ubiquitous Blessing

bless softly the mystery

lest madness explodes into
unnumbered, phantom gesticulations

the bile of a thousand miscarried dreams
the weapons, the lightning, the wars

and many outraged angels felled
silently descend, drifting
as bodies into chasms

whilst snarling devils perch
licking their long tails
like arrowfeathers
on the uppermost peaks

and limbs spurt blood, sputtering tendons
white ribbons of undone muscles
and flesh flutter ghost-like
around marble bones

bless softly
the pale green sloshing
of mighty ship-sides
as they pitch and groan
turning their faces to the dark

bless

the tanned loaves

and salted meats

they carry

and bless cities
silhouetted on the horizon
like the ocean's diadem

bless
the languoring elephant
the hissing leopard
the fierce dragon perfection

the terrible birds of prey
their harsh, stark eyes
and talons flashing
like struck flint

bless
the shriek of whales
tremendous eyeballs surfacing
but lost in inhospitable depths

bless coins
cascading flakes of gold
purple, blue and bronze

taut hands with garish rings
hemming soft, bare, puckered throats

magenta-hued silks that tarry
over crevices and curves

bless
pleasures that cloy
and slink as shadows
on the steep walls of sleep

bless branches
drooping ejaculate pearls
and lush, many-colored fruits

sapphire and gold flames
stretching into the sky
dissolving in traces of spark

apes stamping their feet and staring
with violent, black, diaphanous eyes

superabundant serpents
vomited from cavernous guilt

eagles feasting indifferently
on violet pigeon breasts

bless
the tradewinds culminating
the rough basalt
and variegated light

the slow sap pressing forth
from shuddering oaks

the grapes,
translucent, clustered,
balanced on silver shields

wine streaming down
the mountain god's beard

Shiva's trident in the side of Christ

bless
and marvel
at wild tangents of dance

souls in the aviary of light
that squawk and trill
their mysteries

resinous souls
attracting ideas like flies
that circle and stick

bless
lepers, eunuchs, chandalas
corpses rotting in the summer heat

virgins grouped in placid grottoes
touching powder-blue hyacinths
with dainty hands

faeries emerging
from tangled horse manes
and dwarves punctuating cliff-sides
like sentries

wild-eyed magicians
summoning lightning
and dragons
for no other reason

bless
clouds breaking in the sky
fish sunk into the sand

the panting hart
the wild, tireless Zeus

the earth sending groans
and rocks with their vacant plaints

the waters that tremble, uncertain,
and recede into the vacuum of space

the planet that quakes and keels
and suddenly slips into the sun

bless
vehement streams of light and lust
wrangling in a wilderness of choice

great mountains of sand
encapsulating secrets

and withering like sunsets

the scarab, the mantis, the mite

coquettish nymphs
charming bewildered saints
and stupefied brutes

rose-petals tumbling after
like hurried attendants

bless fervent visions
that rape the mind

dizzy resolution
and stubborn astonishment

undisdained incense
of simple devotion

red-faced charity

condescending to ascend

babe that wails in the breast
whom no mortal mother can coax

the canticles of Providence
and Submission

bless all of these

bless everything

and be at peace with all