in soul pursuit

in soul pursuit

Saturday 3 April 2021

A Conversation with Gian Bellini OP

 
Happy Easter! For my blog this week a short poem...
 
A Conversation with Gian Bellini OP
 
The experts agree,
The technique is impeccable:
The cloth unfurled
On the morning breeze,
The dawn caressing
A distant cloud.
 
Yet somehow,
Between the Easter rabbit
And the flying stag,
Something is lost.
The guard sees it,
And is terrified.
The three ladies,
Shivering on the horizon,
Realise the world has now changed.
The soldiers,
Fed up with all the fuss,
Look at their arms
And their weapons,
In a sorry shield of defence.
 
Christ, himself,
Floats free.
Stepping gently
Onto eternity
With a delicate touch of imprecision -
Eyed coldly
By the vulture in the tree.
 
‘Come then, my love
My lovely one come –
See!
Winter has passed –
The time of changes ends...’
 
The young stag
Peers through the lattice,
Seeking again
Those young spring days –
The Pale Light of the Resurrection –
Once seen, never forgotten.
 
 
London, Royal Academy, December 2018