prose poem

the intermediate genre
of the prose poem
while perhaps technically dating back to the beginning of
poetry
enjoyed a stylistic rebirth in the poems of rimbaud
and more recently borges

it is a way of apprehending narrative
and placing it into a contained form
by allowing only the essential things
and acts to speak for themselves
without resorting to development of anything
let alone plot

thus
in the past year
amongst a number of books
which have stacked up in
my bathroom
for purposes of momentary
distraction from immediate tasks
i have enjoyed a book of prose poems
by the australian writer
gary catalano

herewith is one
of the poems from
FRESH LINEN

TRUE RELIGION

A boy is slowly making his way into the far corner
of a shed. Engulfed by the warm and chaff-smelling dark,
he reaches for the heavy flap of the big hessian bag
which stands in the corner, then bends down
and sinks the tin he is clutching in the bag's unseen belly.
As the grain rushes into the tin and fills it nearly
to the brim, he hears a sound like that made
by an army of roller-skaters. Yes, the roller-skaters
are passing him by at a distance of fifty or so yards.

When he reappears in the open door of the shed and
once more stands in the sunlit world,
he is surprised to discover that the only things
to be seen are the chickens in the nearby run.
The road along which those skaters should be moving
is empty of people or traffic. He weighs the tin
in his hand, then steps over the run.
An ambassador of darkness who dreams constantly
of roller-skates, he has come to these
heathen creatures charged with a single
commission - and that is to spread the true religion
of the big hessian bag.

from an epistemological point of view this is interesting
for the basic question of epistemology is
'how does the mind know?"

catalano is using the simple devise that
strikes us in the way that a short film might strike us

his description is one with the boy
acting and the boy thinking and imagining

perhaps a blind person is able to depend
more realistically on the sense of hearing

and here we are treated to a young mind
engaged in a chore but lost in his own thoughts
to the extent that he mistakes in judgement
the sound which is most logical and immediate
to his task

the sunlight serves as the light of reason
ultimately reality will assert itself
and the imagination
is just that

reality tempers hopes and dreams
yet it is the best teacher
and we do well to heed it
in all its severity

in this innocent portrait
religious imagination is called into question
not judged so much
but the notion of TRUE RELIGION
is given a connection to
the demands of reality on life

the law of simple and humble servitude
cannot be avoided
and is the practical law
by which all great religion must be tested