ISSN: 1941-4137
POETRY THAT ENACTS THE ARTISTIC AND CREATIVE PURITY OF GLASS
POETRY THAT ENACTS THE ARTISTIC AND CREATIVE PURITY OF GLASS
Marilyn Schotland is a poet from Philadelphia currently studying for a BA in History of Art at the University of Michigan. She is the poetry editor of Bombus Press, a recipient of a Hopwood Award, and a nominee for Bettering American Poetry. Recent and forthcoming publications can be found in Cotton Xenomorph, Occulum, and Five:2:One.
Sebastian Redux
i.
Arrows & wine. I canonize
with broken skin & liver.
Plague saints. Holy saints.
Gay saints. Saints of saints.
Poor dead, drowned boys:
heads full of flowers & skin.
Half a glass of champagne
stigmata; bloodstream bubbly.
ii.
No angels, so I’ll wrestle
some Old Testament G-d.
“This isn’t your tradition.”
Another one for diaspora.
I tell my friend I’m writing
another poem about (St.) Sebastian.
“I’m Jewish, for Christ’s sake!”
“That’s the funniest thing you’ve ever said.”
iii.
If I can never be good enough to love,
I’ve got to find something else to worship.
I can borrow iconography
as retribution for every time
I tried to understand why loving
the thin trickle of hair on a girl’s
stomach was frowned upon:
why it was a crime to show affection.
iv.
I dream of a landscape
where no Jewish bodies
burned & no saints were
needed to light the fires.
Sebastian, pour us all
another one; we’ll be
feasting on springtime
strawberries tonight.
Glass: A Journal of Poetry is published monthly by Glass Poetry Press.
All contents © the author.
All contents © the author.
