The alchemist is turning himself
into a bird laden with flight.
It’s Wednesday and the caravans
of shoppers pass through
the procedural darkness, their faces
soft stones whetting the light.
He watches from his window,
drawing mandalas from the dust
of a midday windstorm which settles
on the sill like somebody’s ashes.
For all the gold he cannot make,
there is still the transmutation
of longing, the sand traps
of desire edging their way to music.
His magic is as complex
as any game of the mind’s devising.
Beyond economics, beyond
the shadow-boxing of being,
he is filling the world
with a nameless water, an elixir,
a liquidity of dreams, washing off
the heavy slough of reason.
He is reminding us that we are
tiny mirrors, lovely lights catching
flame at the edge of every season.
He is the soul’s last tinkering mechanic
undertaking the great work of changes
in his library with no doors.
Seth Jani
Seth Jani currently resides in Seattle, WA and is the founder of Seven CirclePress (www.sevencirclepress.com). His own work has appeared throughout the small press in such places as The Foundling Review, The Hamilton Stone Review, Hawai`i Pacific Review and Black Heart Magazine. More about him and his work can be found at www.sethjani.com.
Artwork: Sandra Ovenden, “Lighthouse”
Website: http://www.sandraovenden.com/
Gingerbread House Lit Mag 