Paint. Paint the soft lines
of damp cheeks across a canvas.
Paint the deep eyes, the little
hand and the orb.
Splash some color along the curve
of her neck and suggest
the wafting scent of his musty flesh,
the earth soiling her mantle’s hem,
the wet hay and animal sweat.
Fill out her rounded face
and his chubby legs. Paint well
her ponderous humanity and his
unquestioned divinity
and her smile, Luke. Paint her smile
and we shall see
how well your lazy eye can see.

Published in the November 13, 2015 issue: View Contents
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Br. Joseph Michael is a Franciscan Friar of the Renewal living in the South Bronx.

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