Mark Hartenbach - poem


Shiny Thing

	"have you wondered why all the windows
	in heaven were broken?"  - kenneth patchen

this botticelli is another plug nickel
in the offering plate
& this marc chagal another blast to the groin

whatever happened to immaculate water stains?
does everything have to be translated
into metallic fight songs or cinematic braille
embellished with gauze close-ups?
another wallflower peels itself
from categorical contention
perhaps this stammering child
will one day sing like an angel
randomly leaping over orthodox margins
& tempered horns of plenty

why don't we call this somewhere else?
a cleared out room
where faith dangles down
inches from our fingers
ever the tantalizing vision
where we can iron out the kinks
in our amour
the links in our au natural
where we can gnaw at alters of hoopla
& become giddy as ghosts

where we can worm our way through third class
or spiral up to auspicious new digs
depending on your religious affiliation
where we have plenty of space
to deconstruct down to flickering divine
where all the tricks are outlined
on the front entrance
where assumption is the next best thing
to being there
where everything is negotiable

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