Epiphany

　　Joanie Mackowski

　　A momentary rupture(破裂) to the vision:

　　the wavering limbs of a birch(桦树) fashion

　　the fluttering hem of the deity’s garment,

　　the cooling cup of coffee the ocean the deity(神)

　　waltzes across. This is enough—but sometimes

　　the deity’s heady ta-da coaxes the cherries

　　in our mental slot machine to line up, and

　　our brains summon flickering silver like

　　salmon(鲑鱼) spawning a river; the jury decides

　　in our favor, and we’re free to see, for now.

　　A flaw swells from the facets of a day, increasing

　　the day’s value; a freakish(畸形的，奇特的) postage stamp mails

　　our envelope outside time; hairy, claw-like

　　magnolia buds bloom from bare branches;

　　and the deity pops up again like a girl from

　　a giant cake. O deity: you transfixing transgressor(违背者，犯规者) ,

　　translating back and forth on the border

　　without a passport. Fleeing revolutions

　　of same-old simultaneous boredom and

　　boredom, we hoard epiphanies under the bed,

　　stuff them in jars and bury them in the backyard;

　　we cram our closet with sunrise; prop up our feet

　　and drink gallons of wow!; we visit the doctor

　　because all this is raising the blood’s levels of

　　C6H3(OH)2CHOHCH2NHCH3, the heart caught

　　in the deity’s hem and haw(支支吾吾) , the oh unfurling

　　from our chest like a bee from our cup of coffee,

　　an autochthonous greeting: there. Who saw it?