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A wingless phoenix in Wal-Mart
By Special K and Quaker Oats
Stands mid-aisle, stock still, face pinched.
His eyes shift blank and stare
At a nightmare in the lightning flashes of his brain
Even with the doctor’s little pills, Franken-Berry,
Untethered chemistry, synaptic discord
A conflagration he could barely control
Or it would blaze into fiery immolation
As it was doing now
Had done a thousand times before
But for the clenched claws
Would knock down the hazy stupor of the day
Into wide Tartarus.
Storm-flash gone, he lifts his hand
Past packaged heads, past canned voices
Past paranoia, past schizophrenia
For the Lucky Charms
Broken bits of childhood psalms
Crayon memories
Of a Man walking on water
Leading him home
A child of God by name.
Reblogged this on Dreams from a Pilgrimage and commented:
You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,
as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.
You saw me before I was born.
Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out
before a single day had passed.
How precious are your thoughts about me, O God.
They cannot be numbered!
I can’t even count them;
they outnumber the grains of sand!
And when I wake up,
you are still with me! (Psalm 139: 15-18)
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I’ve loved the image of the phoenix ever since I read about its use as a symbol of the resurrection.
This is an amazing treatment. Kudos.
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Thanks so much! I did not know but am not surprised at the phoenix imagery for the resurrection. There is a sense in which the rebirth – new birth – happens on this side of heaven as well, of course, but the image fits so aptly for rising from death to eternal life. Somewhere in my Jungian unconscious I must have plugged into that. Thus the closing line.
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