An ancient story coeval with a pattern
on the floor of the cathedral which leads us
on a quest to find our way through the wasteland
of an America whose damaged central minister
lies trapped in his own blinding wounds
so that only the power of the healing vessel
can call forth the waters of the fountain of life
and help us to find the way through the coils
of life to the cup that we will lift together
to articulate the healing gesture that will
save us all.

 

James Van Looy has been a fixture in Boston’s poetry venues since the 1970s. He is a member of Cosmic Spelunker Theater and has run poetry workshops for Boston area homeless people at Pine Street Inn and St. Francis House since 1992. Van Looy leads the Labyrinth Creative Movement Workshop, which his Labyrinth titled poems are based on. His work appears weekly in Oddball Magazine.