Incense

A hundred tongues of smoke—

Translucent wisps, lithe specters—

Rise, snaking languidly,

Curling, grasping like tendrils

At the light they invoke;

Then billow into clouds

That hang, a haze, an aura,

A veil of mystery,

Of light diffuse, pervasive,

That glows and yet enshrouds.

An otherworldly scent—

Sweetness of life eternal

Tinged with the pungency

Of mortal flesh atoning—

Wafts downward, heaven-sent.

Rise! Fill the cold, still, dank air,

Fill me with every breath;

Fill what is foul with sweetness,

Liven what stinks of death!

Rise! Fill the apse, the arches;

Fill the high vaults and dome;

Shroud all the simulacra

Masking the world to come!

Rise! With my prayers to Heaven,

With the choir’s voices, rise!

Past this corrupt world’s reaches,

To dwell in Paradise!

Adam Sedia (b. 1984) lives in his native Northwest Indiana, with his wife, Ivana, and their children, and practices law as a civil and appellate litigator. In addition to the Classical Poet's Society’s publications, his poems and prose works have appeared in The Chained Muse Review, Indiana Voice Journal, and other literary journals. He is also a composer, and his musical works may be heard on his YouTube channel.