Ferment, Roxy Paine, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
Spirit,
you do not strike
down the center of my body
and convulse me
into praise.
You hook me
like a dendrite branch,
slowly, craggily wrapping
around my bones.
I cannot reach out my hand
without meeting
the stainless steel loop of you
between my fingers,
your tongue of fire split
into a thousand silver
hairs.
(Front page image courtesy Nelson Atkins)