Carved Image

To see beyond the mental images

And structured recollections of the dead

Framed in sorrow through time's long passages

That in our hearts absolved of fear and dread,

Made pure by deep aeskesis of the mind,

The will to quell desire, conquer death,

Resolved that by this journey God defined

In man shall rise in him and with his breath,

Speak through tongue aware of consequence,

No longer a channel for universal noise

Where words are uttered void of inner sense

And hidden the innumerable joys

Waiting by the pathways of our grief;

That he may come into this flesh and bone

Transform by stealth, silent as a thief

Who enters the vault and see the altar-stone

Encrusted with the priceless jewels of time,

And as his torch illuminates the space

Sees untouched by centuries of grime

The image carved that is his very face.