“Caritas”

Love must not be, but take a body too
Air and Angels

—John Donne

The primal metaphor has been transposed
as sleep an affiance with death eludes
for death defective is but sleep. Alludes
to resurrection now: a dawning rosed
in bloody-red genesis, predisposed
to whited hues dazzling out in amplitudes.
Thus pagan beauties to beatitudes
and logos to Logos metamorphosed.
The body too transfigured: taken for
love, then for love abused, it becomes love—
metaphysical conceit ‘comes metaphor
concrete so glorified by God above.
Sweet Alleluias fill the air; herald
Spirit’s imminent advent, joy-caroled.

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This poem was first published here in April 2020.

The featured image is “La Résurrection. Tableau de l’école de Nicolas Coypel. Lambris du chœur de l’église Saint-Sulpice de Fougères.” This file is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.