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| "Here I Am" (1910) by Leopold Schmutzler, Frye Art Museum |
an ekphrasis exercise
1 After his visit
I was drenched
in the density
of loneliness.
Yes, I said
yes.
Here I am,
I said.
And yes,
here
I
am.
Where else
could I be?
2 But this Gabriel!
he left me no choice.
Is this
my father's
idea of a favor?
3 Favor, then.
Favor I
must find
within this
inscrutable
reality.
4 Fine, then,
I say to you
here I am.
If this unknown future
must be mine
then mine
will I make it.
5 I dress deliberately.
This fine white slip
shall caress me
like the same unseen
wind that brought
your news today.
6 And this shawl
immerse me like
the current of this
river I know I am
to swim.
7 If it must be mine,
I say, I will make it mine.
I will hover on my threshold
at home, the only
precipice I know-
and claim your favor
as my own.
8 Oh, yes, I know I am
your humble servant,
but for this moment
I will embrace
my friend, my pride;
I will hold
the immanence
of high noon
and wonder
at my own beauty
and delight
that I,
yes I,
am
Theotokos.
