transparent crystal, facial sections of a human head, silver plate
Amiens Cathedral, France, and the Basilica di San Silvestro in Capite, Rome
he was not the one
Salome wanted
he wore
his head
a goat’s skin
she was the one
the one
who cried
John
in her wilderness
he lived in
a palace
a wild desert
of moon
he was the coming of
there is always
the light
another
light shone
she was the one
in his face
who took his head
he called the dove
she looked
down
upon his head
he was not the one
shoulder bare
who walked
bright
into a Jerusalem
the silver
paved with palms
spun with
there is always
moonlight
another
from Museum of Objects Burned by the Souls in PurgatoryFind more by Jeffrey Thomson at the library
Copyright © 2022 Jeffrey Thomson
Used with the permission of The Permissions Company, LLC on behalf of Alice James Books.