Scale
for Gregory Vincent St. Thomasino
Jake Berry
1
If we have been in that house
it is no longer a house
but a field
charged
resonant
mound
& stone
after Beth-el
a dream like lightning
unkempt in all his ways
These are the vestments
Triune
Polyphonic
a cradle
made of voices
a cradle
before the interruption
(before the incision)
of glass
2
If it begins
it begins
in a wound
& graceless stumbling
across a bed of silence
grotesque
until she comes into focus
3
everything crucified
and torn apart
of sudden, terrible beauty
a crimson light
is an occasion
to rejoice
4
out from – sheltering
as the lungs
across the bed
toward zero (face to face)
This is our habitation
to visit
along the way
dust on our
rags
5
[discovered]
a femur
a pelvis
a shoulder blade
upon which
inscribed in Greek
(as was the Orphic inclination):
body σῶμα soma
water ὕδωρ hudor
spirit πνεῦμα pneuma
an octave apart
a spike in the earth
6
of number
there is only
a chasm
of every form
emptying
7
The word
has shaken us
free
with an essential,
forbidden
summoning
more than knowledge
more than life
a music
one step beyond
— 3.19.17
Jake Berry is a poet, musician and visual artist. His work has appeared in a wide variety of publications for more than three decades. Books include Brambu Drezi, Species of Abandoned Light and Drafts of the Sorcery. Recordings include Liminal Blue, Wilderness and Grace and Mystery Songs. He lives with his wife Bridget and four cats in Florence, AL. amazon.com/author/jakeberry jakeberry.bandcamp.com
