Polyptych Infinitum - Poem

Literary Review, Wntr, 2004 by Jonah Winter

   (One figure is kneeling
   outside the door
   of the Virgin, whose gaze is fixed

   on some invisible point
   beyond the Latin script
   unraveling out of the lips

   of an angel who's descending
   from the window
   in a slant of winter light.

   The stone floor
   is cold
   and wind can be heard

   through the wall.
   In the distance, it's evening
   already, it's next year

   and everyone's leaving,
   backs turned, all of them
   diminishing, entering

   the end of November.
   The record of Gregorian chants
   is over, and other sounds

   emerge: someone's coat
   rustling, a guard talking
   to another guard

   in some other room,
   footsteps getting louder.
   The North Star

   shines directly above
   the cradle.
   Someone sneezes.

   The Magi look surprised,
   their faces almost purple
   with wonder, as sheep and cows

   nudge in between them.
   With several "Excuse me's,"
   a tall man

   hurries away
   from the starlit gathering,
   dropping his umbrella,

   bending over
   to pick it up,
   dropping it again ...)

Jonah Winter is a musician and children's book author/illustrator who lives in Brooklyn. His first book of poems, Maine, was published by Slope Editions.