new from above/ground press: Solitude is an Acrobatic Act, by Khashayar Mohammadi

Solitude is an Acrobatic Act
Khashayar Mohammadi
$4

The Seventh Seal

a parting of bruised clouds       
sunrays pierce the opacity of the ocean
waves sand down rocks into mirrors
the sun shines so the devil can find us in daylight
the eloquence of death leads to a vision
a naked soul atop a naked body shrivelled
from a plague painted on frescoes
the companionship of spirits in church
where god eludes all extended hands
but at the edge of life one can peer
into the abyss and beckon silence
the wonder that is the body        
pulsating with premature life
and a miasma punitive to all
a crusade chastens idealists
thuribles purify the holy path
and a plague shrivels the realists
flagellants who pour their blood
into bile to keep away witches
purge black death by fire
the insignificance of another dusk
when death excepts no knight or jester
a drop of water for the witch
before alighted at the stake
not to console the dying
but to console all who live
and after the storm: dappled in sunlight
a look of contentment while death hangs
on a branch by the troubadours’ tent
a little pleasure for the townsfolk
before thuribles lead the way again

published in Ottawa by above/ground press
June 2020
a/g subscribers receive a complimentary copy

Khashayar Mohammadi is an Iranian-born Toronto-based writer and translator. His last chapbook Dear Kestrel was published by knife|fork|book and his debut poetry collection Me, You, Then Snow is forthcoming with Gordon Hill Press.

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