Illumination

Gold leaf, cadmium, ochre, saffron-

indelible once set on vellum.
The monks ground azurite and lapis

for perfect blue, took care
to cleanse their hands of poison

that made words sacred.
We place our fingers against

each other’s lips, a vow of silence,
sense the touch mark even after.

I am brimming with words
but none can hold that moment

when our faces, edged in gold
glinted in the water’s mirror,

the invisible sun within us-
so I let them fly, lead white

against a white sky.