the
tombstones of saint-denis
The light of Abbot Suger, ever new, falls
on
canopies and tombstones, the vacant faces
of kings. Their graves are subject to
an emptiness greater than that of life.
Further down, in the crypt, their
amassed remains now acidify, sealed
off from the viruses of a belief
more menacing, penetrating
than that of the zealot from Geneva,
the arguments of the Enlightenment
or the yapping goddess of the Revolution:
our probing of DNA, nanos and the universe.
This gleaming marble, wearing away
in staring, suggests how we too might
shine,
in a glow that knows neither day nor night
for love is deep, deeper than stone is
dense.
Taken from the four-language collection
Cathedra, the original Dutch by Albert Hagenaars.
For more information, consult his website
at www.alberthagenaars.nl
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