Folio 34R

As young Mike O'Brien ponders the Word
Made Flesh in the Book of Kells exhibit
he wonders if the monk preferred snakes
more than Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

The flourishes made him think of a serpent
with Eve in the Garden of Eden,
the sun going down and for some reason
a dark bulbous mushroom burgeoning.

Tonight he will think of Mary Postanak
and wonder why, confused in his bed,
such ancient colored pigments on vellum
make his blood feel like it swells in his head.