The Lie (bernini`s St Theresa)

<br>Genuflection / erection in church.<br>Sacristy cloth / moth-eaten shroud.<br>Secret silence / sacred secrets<br>accumulate dust, aggravate the eye.<br>Incautious laughter after confession.<br>Benediction ------- fictional fear<br>Hidden faces ... Grace is a name,<br>like Chastity, like Lucifer, like mine.<br>You took me through the window-stain,<br>drowned in image, inscence, choir-refrain<br>and slow ecstasy ------<br>I`d embrace you if I only knew your name....<br>The silent corner haunts my shadow prayers :<br>ice-cold statue -- rapture divine,<br> unconscious eyes,<br> the open mouth,<br> the wound of love,<br> the Lie.<br>You took me, gave me reasons for<br>saints and missals, vigils, all the more<br>holy martyrs -----<br>I`d embrace you and walk through<br> the one-way door...<br>I`d embrace you, but it would be<br> just another lie ----------<br>( * which is to say that the statue is the inspiration, but not the Lie)