January 7

for Jonathan Kline

Indivisible miracle

this falling into

a biological conclusion:

birth,

the gathering and folding mystery

what did it matter if a noun

copulated with a pronoun

to conceive  a verb

you never did anywise

in a gesture of nevermind

explain to nobody why

when you were innocent

enough to say what

a man dies to know

instead

you heard the advent snores

of three old sandy men

smelling of camels , cloves, and cocaine---

heard thrice-washed  music for a star

you arrived after epiphany then

when you asked in alphabets

unknown on earth

am I too late to be brother to a sun

waiting for no answer

you floated on broken water,

an impatient gift

destined for an uncertain address.

Jerry W. Ward, Jr.

January 6, 2012