First Footnote

Grace is not a contract; it is an action, a “kiss.” [10/10]

Which is a mingling . . . and a moment.

The fountains mingle with the river
And the rivers with the Ocean,
The winds of Heaven mix for ever
With a sweet emotion;
Nothing in the world is single;
All things by a law divine
In one spirit meet and mingle,
Why not I with thine?—

See the mountains kiss high Heaven
And the waves clasp one another;
No sister-flower would be forgiven
If it disdained its brother;
And the sunlight clasps the earth
And the moonbeams kiss the sea:
What is all this sweet work worth
If thou kiss not me?

- Percy Bysshe Shelley, “Love’s Philosophy”

Wine comes in at the mouth
and love comes in at the eye:
That’s all we shall know for truth
Before we grow old and die.
I lift the glass to my mouth,
I look at you and sigh.

- William Butler Yeats, “A Drinking Song”

One grand boulevard with trees
with one grand café in the sun
with strong black coffee in very small cups

One not necessarily very beautiful
man or woman who loves you

One fine day

- Lawrence Ferlighetti, “Recipe for Happiness Khabarovsk or Anyplace"

Or,

Rodin

Gustav Klimt

Edvard Munch

Fragonard!

My longer poem “Thursdays” describes an odd assortment of men, a newspaper editor, a priest, a classicist among them, who meet Thursday mornings to discuss theology over breakfast. The conversation wanders: Ananias and Sapphira, Adam and Eve, lying, loss, the rapture—grace not as a kiss but rape, at least according to Father Tim, who has the last word:

Father Tim bows his head, “O God of fire, of two-
edged sword and Tim La Haye: Come rape us from our cars,
our churches, hotel rooms . . .” Unbowing, says, “Instead:
imagine an apocalypse by Fragonard—
a quiet sunblent garden, God le chevalier,
polite and sly, the New Jerusalem, cheeks rouged
a delicate, and decorous, pink, her stockings, lace—
and bosom—white as snow, as wool, as sins forgiven,
yet waiting to be taken, desert her spaniel, slip
away this very afternoon, to be disrobed
and loved—whatever comes tomorrow. Hasn’t she
her reasons to believe tomorrow may not come?”

- Rick