“Almost Holy” by R.G. Evans

[audioplayer file=”https://admin.rattle.com/audio/EvansHoly.mp3″]

R.G. Evans

ALMOST HOLY

My niece is addicting

mice to cocaine.

The cause is science,

the university is Temple

so it’s almost holy.

Poor little buggers.

Their tickers get to ticking

and pretty soon they dream

that they are rats,

that they can fly,

that they are rats

with wings, pigeons

soaring over mouse and rat,

the god of mice,

of rats, of birds. Until morning

when they’ll believe

that they are dead.

Then the true god comes

in a cloud-like lab coat,

the resurrection and the life.

I used to dream

I was a mouse,

but I am only a flea

upon a mouse’s back.

But sometimes … sometimes

the blood’s so sweet

I feel I’m the uncle of light riding

bareback and holy through the temple.

—from Rattle #53, Fall 2016
Tribute to Adjuncts

[download audio]

__________

R.G. Evans: “One of the first questions I ask my creative writing students at the university where I serve as adjunct is, ‘What is your favorite poem?’ I get a lot of ‘The Raven’ or ‘Where the Sidewalk Ends.’ Some try to describe Frost’s ‘The Road Not Taken,’ although they usually can’t identify Frost or the title. I don’t mention this as a criticism of my students, most of whom are clever, adaptive writers who delight me with their work throughout the semester. I mention it as an indictment of an educational system that has gone mad pursuing standards and standardized testing while excluding the rich history of poetry available to everyone. At a time when we need poetry more than ever before, it’s my privilege to be able to introduce students to poetry and watch what happens behind their eyes.” (website)