Van Cleave, Ryan G.

English

The Open Repository @Binghamton (The ORB)

Harpur Palate: a Literary Journal Volume 1 Issue 1 Article 3 Lavabo Ryan G. Van Cleave Follow this and additional works at: https://orb.binghamton.edu/harpurpalate Recommended Citation Van Cleave, Ryan G. () "Lavabo," Harpur Palate: a Literary Journal: Vol. 1: Iss. 1, Article 3. Available at: https://orb.binghamton.edu/harpurpalate/vol1/iss1/3 This Poetry is brought to you for free and open access by The Open Repository @ Binghamton (The ORB). It has been accepted for inclusion in Harpur Palate: a Literary Journal by an authorized editor of The Open Repository @ Binghamton (The ORB). For more information, please contact ORB@binghamton.edu. Lavabo by Ryan G. Van Cleave Lavabo n. 1. RC Ch. a. the ritual washing of the celebrant's hands at the offertory of the Mass. b. a towel of basin used for this. 2. a monastery washing-trough. 3. a wash-basin. I wash my hands in innocence, and go about thy altar, O Lord, singing a song of thanksgiving. —Psalm 26:6 wellspring illuminated by wheat-colored light these pages of water such geometric beauty of ultramarine blue the mother lode of secrets potent crossroads how madonna lilies float sudden flowers that shiver atop the water’s face like a soul side-stepping death or the mysterious corpus of sin, its viscera like a bed of thorns in starry feather-swirls the long curve of silence scars can be drowned their desolate summits given one more chance renewed strength of its origins here in the eternity of foam Palate 91Van Cleave: LavaboPublished by The Open Repository @ Binghamton (The ORB),

Lavabo

https://orb.binghamton.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1002&context=harpurpalate

Lavabo

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