Gerry Lafemina, American poet, Associate Professor of English, born August 11, 1968.
AN IMAGE OF GODLINESS
Gerry Lafemina
Like the Turin shroud with
its image of godliness,
her yoga mat holds
the tattoo of her body, each pose
immortalized by a particular
indentation, a stain of perspiration.
I’ve slept without remorse or redemption
in beds that still held
the shapes of former lovers.
The sky is gunmetal gray &
getting darker. Today I want
to downward-dog on that mat
just to inhale the scent of her-
how I might howl. So much
of lover is imagination: its over-
activity, its over-ambition, its over-the-top
hopes. Is this what it means to be
a person of faith?
She practices breath & posture, knows
the variations of each. Science tells us
one version of the story, scripture
another. When she’s done,
she rolls her mat like a scroll
& sets it aside, her skin mottled,
sweaty, her final meditation
a white fire on her tongue