Of Paradise

Of Paradise

James Prather

If stars and wrinkles of sky shone
As one and focused their cosmic, dappled glow,
This beam, wild nature’s final, burning groan,
Would flicker in eyes, vast and low,
Of every soul-surrendered saint,
Whose prayers hold the distant stars’ restraint,

Who sift our false, young, finite world
From concerned vanity into a gift,
Amidst the seraphim’s same song, unfurled
For God the Father; these saints lift
Our nature’s dust and its contingent dross
Within our lone oblation, Christ’s wood cross.

Yet in the morning, I can’t hold
My eyes upon the amber sky’s slow rise.
This Egypt keeps me numb, with my heart cold
And my flesh flushed, by the reprise
Of a thousand squealing bones that’ll sing like whips
Until I say “yes” to my own eclipse.

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James Prather
Poet

James lives with his wife, son, and daughter in Houston, Texas, where he teaches literature at the Houston Institute. He is currently an MFA student in poetry at the University of St. Thomas - Houston. His most recent essay was published in Literary Matters Magazine's Spring/Summer issue. This is his first published poem.

Photography by Thomas de Luze