Basilica of Acrobats

To enter, you must join

the dream body’s epicene center –

a mandorla

rouged with rust

and white

like the swan’s neck

hooked with melancholy.

The trapeze door

opens to

milky light

revealing

an elastic Magdelen,

Stowaway shadows

breathe,

pulse,

lounge in limbering

green fire

spit rubies

then die.

Poise is restored.