Ten Emanations
inspired by the ten Sephirot
I
A quickening heliolatry darkened,
an oneiric chaos—fata morgana
—pure. A bent halo pings morning,
an epicedium of a dead seed—
the psalm of a dying star.
II
Red serpents cross glass tongues, the riddle
of the one-winged swan. All the days know
when to sleep.
III
The ten moons of Etz haChayim
—night’s purpling sphere,
a continuum
—on time’s nude hand, wrinkled
in pulse, the map
of an opulent world, once.
IV
A hermit dismantles Saturnian charms
by an empty river, breaks bread
with a lemon-colored turtle, belly-up—
paper for the bloodless beast.
V
Tiny daemons sail on white clay.
A thousand suns unbutton
plum-colored sky.
A wishbone in seawater
deaf as teeth.
VI
Hour: The long man who fades into stone
often seen holding an ennead of damp iris.
Time: A woman holding a black umbrella,
often seen kneeling in ivy.
Eternity: A blue nest of gold leaves,
aflame in the light of the once-was.
VII
Tadpoles hatch in a bottom-fire, a telestic
lamp—Cerulean: A holy color, wet—
the seventh lotus sinks.
VIII
A cathedral of splintered mushrooms—
collect.
A pear rots on steps stained with obedience.
IX
Thumb on bark—the Gatherer,
the elephant & the blind man
unfold into hundred-handed
light.
X
God: A large metal cube on sand,
rinsed in milk—a place of finding.
god: The river that flows four ways.
Jay Sheets studies Mythopoetics at Goddard College in Vermont and is a Poetry Editor for the literary journal, Duende. His work has appeared in Hermeneutic Chaos, Aleola, Sundog Lit, Albion Review, and The Light Ekphrastic. Sheets lives in Plymouth, Mass. www.jaysheets.com