Protagonists, We

       

“A person who becomes a character—

positive or negative, makes no difference—

always suffers a little”

(Primo Levi, 1982)

One footnote from The Agony and Ecstasy

is Michelangelo’s b.o.—yours and mine

in mid-July may not contribute to a legacy,

stretching necks to capture the Divine.

Our footwork, carbon copies of the Appian Way,

makes no difference (truth behind The Truce);

like Jacob’s bout at Yabok, darkness turns to day

and angels we might wrestle we let loose….

Such footfalls we own up to pace our memory,

allow a further agon to the characters we cast,

Bottom as an ass, Macbeth to hijack history—

readings of each person in a race not meant to last.

Seek footing, then, at Calvary, carved out

once in miracle and sign, if carried on through

mind and handcraft from disciples all about:

Michelangelo, Rembrandt, likes of me and you.