A Situation of Meat and Grace
after Francis Bacon and Simone Weil
There are two paintings:
the crucifixion
a flesh-coated thing
hollowed and hung in a
butcher’s window
awaiting some god’s gaze
as the traffic passes
and the butcher’s dog lears
gasping for a mouthful
There is no lack
of divine forgetfulness
in its blood-let figure
arms outstretched
in the same manner as ribs
toward a sign laying below
in a pool of water
My meat is to do
the will of Him
that sent me
*
The other painting is of a child
with a cross around his neck.
He kneels, praying, in front
of the butcher’s window.
The exact wording of his prayer
is drawn out in fogged breath
upon the glass.
The Kindling 