The blind see only this world / (A Christmas Card
Today the Lamb of God arrives in the mail
above the Cross, beside the Handsome Sailor
from Russia
in his turtleneck sweater. Today we make love
in our minds.
and women come to fore, winning the field.
It is Christmas, Hanukkah,—heritages we leave
behind
in Israel.
There is a new cross in the wind, and it is our
minds, imagination, will
where the discovery is made
of how to pass the night, how to share the gift
of love, our bodies, which is true
illumination
of the present instant.
There is no other journey to make. We receive all
we need.
Without insight, we remain blind.
Without vision, we see only this world.
From Supplication: Selected Poems of John Wieners, edited by Joshua Beckman, CAConrad, and Robert Dewhurst © 2015 John Wieners Literary Trust, Raymond Foye, Administrator. Reprinted with the permission of The John Wieners Literary Trust.
John Wieners
John Wieners lived on the periphery of several movements during his lifetime—the Beats, the Black Mountain School, the New York School, the San Francisco Renaissance—and was granted cult status in the poetry community.