A slow salvation....

It's been a while since I posted poetry here, Gentle Readers.  Sorry to be negligent!  My eldest, Ben (at right with his niece Emma), sent me a few things of his yesterday, and I thought I'd start with the one below. It was written several years ago when he was in Rome, and was recently recovered.  

 

GALLERY by Ben Finnegan

Eyes that are not

eyes stare,

some stern, some 

joyful, some in

ecstasy, others in despair;

all unchanging, but

for a slowly gathering

layer of dust.

Children never meant to grow

smile a mischievous eternity

holding hands or standing

on one leg

for the ages to observe

their innocence.  

Here and there

a Christ or a saint

bleeds immobile drops

of redemption

before the wondering gaze 

of time and passage:

a slow salvation of the past

forever reaching

forward.

And Ben has some job possibilities, and some big decisions to make even today, Gentle Reader.  Please keep him and Elsa in your prayers!