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THE ALPS THREE POEMS FROM Travels in Europe  |
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A Poem Noir  |
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Born atop celestial summits crowning 'round the snow-bright
tower, Then expelled slow-motion As if ordered by some mountain-judgment Gabriel, Get thee hence, You "Sea of Ice," You Lucifer of superglaciers, Wrinkled deep like London murderers' scar-rent faces, Roaring down that Nile-broad valley Where no tree or grass has dared set foot, Devouring all while Grinding rocky outcrops into sand cadaver-gray With thunderous percussion and ruthless force, Insuperable in foisting havoc. Ogre of an ice field, Cunning in destruction, Your crevasses restlessly break Every rope and bone before it, Daunting every brash intruder, Save the monster made by Frankenstein--- That homeless heathen doomed here to his limbo, Roaming wild in retribution, Seeking vengeance-justice for his wrongs. ---At Hotel Montenvers, beside the 16-km.-long Mer de Glace Glacier, Chamonix, France (Ed. Note---Mary Shelley’s novel “Frankenstein” featured a long confrontation of the title character with the monster on that very “Sea of Ice” Glacier.) |
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Years warm up. Ice mass Breaks off, dies. Bemoan, glaciers' Final century! |
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Through a Corinthian column  |
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Belfry bells pealed loud and joyously Above the chapel clinging to the blooming hillside In a far-off Alpine town, Where local seniors dominate The meager Sunday congregation. When the priest sought volunteers to give one reading, None complied, as if the cock again cried thrice. But near the back, an upraised palm and shrug Had caught his eye, and now The invitation turned to mandate. I protested, "I'm a foreigner!" "And so am I," he countered genially, Thus quelling further argument. Corinthians had never seemed so close. Severe St. Paul, I felt for once, was standing eye to eye With sympathy, permissive of epistles Read in hiking togs, Though surely blanching at such renegades Pronouncing sacred texts in German Well below celestial standards. Folly past. Back-row pew resumed. Offertory, Sanctus, and Communion. Transsubstantiation touching off a second mystery--- Unprecedented transformation, humble fencer with the faith, Bodily assimilated wordlessly in this community Eternities removed from Motherland. Extending hands, they took the interloper to their bosom, Sculpting unforgettably a home away from home. ---Grindelwald, Switzerland |
All three poems are ©2006
by Paul Hertelendy. The illustrations are from IMSI's Master
Clips Collection, 1895 Francisco Blvd. E., San Rafael, CA, 94901-5506,
USA. This column first posted Sept. 25, 2006.
Poet
Paul Hertelendy is also a critic with the San Francisco Bay Area
arts website
www.artssf.com. To
visit his website, click here: PAUL
You can comment
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"The Editors" or Paul Hertelendy. To send an email,
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