Ecstatic

The illusion of a separate self hovers like a ghost
in and out of kaleidoscopic relationship vibrating
in sympathy. This world, this concentrated thought born
through relative motion in the flow of time through
the force of believing. The colors of infinity, a redemptive
blue. It is the art and the salvation, evidence of great
intentions calling forth a truer essence from behind
a common fact. This observable world coded in signs,
its colors threaten to smudge into night.
Nature shouts to make itself heard. It will be heard.
The earth tilts as days and longings grow louder and
the self is invited to dance the dance of the paradoxical.
Let the dream that is your life collapse.
Look through the veil, at intimations of awful transcendence.

     Child Born

You are the translucent hand of God
extended in friendship, arriving
in rivulets of pain and ecstasy, always
a heartbeat behind, a heartbeat behind
in making space to sustain the
feelings and let them breathe.
The light that falls upon what lies
beyond is too bright to sense your
own being. And you are stricken
in human heat, celebrating the most
ancient pain there is. Not the pain
of childhood but the remembrance
of it; love so horrifying it’s almost a
relief. But still. Not yet able to shape
memory into a vessel large enough to

     A Poem Composed Entirely From Blurbs Found in the TV Guide

High school students try to stave off an invasion of
alien body snatchers. Face the nation. Cheesy reality.
Hour of Power Religious Programming. A demon
poses as an imaginary friend. Jeopardy. Wall Street
Journal Report. An ill-conceived romantic comedy.

Marriage Crazy. Alien vs. Predator. Surreal Life.
Work is slow at the mortuary and the staff gets
tense. Good pulpy fun. A security officer

battles a dragon. A monster battles both Japan
and Godzilla. Scofield arrives in prison where he
aligns with a former mob boss and gets in the
middle of a race war while trying to free his framed
brother. A comic rhapsody. Overarching

government conspiracy is cartoonishly
obvious. A mysterious agent plots to steal
government funds in this illogical thriller. A
woman vanishes during a magic act and never
reappears. Whose Line Is It Anyway?
The history of ketchup is examined,
making an already tense affair more so.
Karen gets stood up on a date.
We See Everything. The Adventures of
Piggley Winks. Rolie Polie Olie. Drama. All New This
Fall. Horror. Lois fulfills her dream of becoming
a model. Meanwhile, Brian suffers from worms.

© 2022-2023 by Mira McEwan.