J B MULLIGAN

ONE SHADOW, MANY SHAPES

from every angle he looked at it
it was
     a different apple
          a different eye
               a different world

the light   the features
flowed like water in a stream
from here to there the same
in structure but a different skin

in the air   the cries of the dying
never changed   never ceased
in the sky   the laughter of birds
released with the soft rush
of two skins touching

the brane rippled and fluttered
like the surface of the heart
pulsed
     cleared
          inhaled

the start of everything else revealed
the inner working of the world
on both sides   antiphon   response

the sacred sounds of distance
the holy other holding
       a different apple
          a different heart
              a different world

everywhere the same
occurrences in infinite
circumstance and song

meaning in the mouth   the ear
the wave between   in air
there and there
      a different eye
           a different heart
a different world

one now is the same place
the same moment
that falls like petals over all

the rose explodes   reforms
the heart   the apple   the eye

one shape   many shadows.

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