The Human Pith

I'm currently neck-deep in PhD proposals and TA work and I'm currently nearing the end of the first of two hellishly busy weeks. In order to keep the posting frequency at the established four-times-a-month minimum, here's a poem I wrote back in November. The poem is based on Parmigianino's (1503-40) Madonna and Child with angels, most commonly known as Madonna dal collo lungo, Our Lady of the long neck. It was painted in the period 1534-40. The picture is taken from Wikimedia.

The Human Pith

After Parmigianino's Madonna dal collo lungo

A dead child fresh-looted from the earth

or else a dummy clumsily arranged

across her lap, fixed in a posture strange

to living flesh proclaims the deathless truth

of God the man who set frail mankind's worth

above His sparrows. How little we have changed

since first His form set foot in street and grange

of Galilee to heal the human pith.

That wound is bleeding still, but by His words

we may yet find a way from out our deep,

weak as we are, prey in the beak of birds,

hostage to oaths we break and oaths we keep,

myopic striders lost within the herd,

idolaters denying our children sleep

- November 09 2013