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f a t h e r i n a t r a n s l u c e n t c l o s e t
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R O N A L D P A L M E R
for Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844-1889)
Call: I'll call: a caustic secret a crime--
then watch it stall:
a deflated lung
germinates black nests of ice: infests
a glacial desire's pose like dry-heaves of dread.
Now your mind's a divided island:
like mischievous Michelangelo's horned Moses:
marbleized mirrored-stare finds a heavy head
reflects: both Lucifer and sufferer.
I too am infinitely oxymoronic--
dutiful son: agreeably disowned planet--
O father: together: our ballad's
bass line's
in a chronic panic.
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