Two poems & two photos by Karin Macphail Weber

New World Cathedral

The heart of the cathedral

in Cuzco is an inner court

of graven chairs that once upheld

the spines of Conquistadors,

Bishops and Inquisitors;

whose remnant shades now

steal across pillars

sucking the grace of Madonna.

Trussed up on a higher stage,

and spotlit in white satin robes; 

she is the woman of eternal ovation.

Carefully hidden from Mary’s sight,

beneath the arms of each chair,

tiny Incan women are pinioned;

their carved hair streaming

around apricot breasts oiled

by countless licking fingers 

while the rest of their bodies

are neatly molded into furniture.

   

Above, Mary looks a little tired,

like she wishes she could climb down.

After performing for others for so long,

she would open her miraculous arms

like a kestrel sailing home

to her olive groves and clay pots,

and put on the frayed hem she used to wear

sweeping sawdust for her son.

leavetaking

deerprints lace

through a russet

bittersweet maze

leaving the last

familiar path

swan necked ferns

throw their emerald

feathers to the morning

and birch trees wade

into a valley

clasping branches

all the way down

the air pulls a song

from the invisible wings 

of a dragonfly

to the east

the sun leans forward

and gilded blood pours

down the skinned

shoulders of mountains

to the west

against sheer

granite radiance

the night tears

its face away

*

Karin Macphail Weber is a writer and artist. Her writing and artwork reflect a passion for mythology, nature, personal and cultural memory. She has published fiction and poetry, and is currently working on a fantasy novel. Her home is in Mississauga, Ontario. Read Karin’s Invasion of the Snotty Badgers,” winner of the Writers’ Union’s postcard story competition here and see more photography and poetry by Karin here.

See Brian Henry’s schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Bolton, Caledon, Georgetown, Milton, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, Orangeville, Newmarket, Barrie, Orillia, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.