Writing an Icon

A poem in gold leaf

I can crayon stick figures or splatter acrylic on a canvas, but dip a sable brush in egg tempura to summon a saint from a panel of wood?

Iconographers call this ‘writing an icon’ – each brushstroke one breath of a meditation where God speaks

not in whispers but by guiding their hand. The gold gilt, they breathe on – faithfully miming God breathing Life into creation.

Poets paint poems on paper, etched in woodlands of wonder – portraits of epiphanies; landscapes of musings and quests. Our brushes prompted

by our Angel, our Muse, Mother, Father, The One. The gold leafed backdrop our prayer that our words transfigure into icons of connection.

Thank you for transfiguring my day by reading this. Thank you, Suntonu Bhadra and the team at Paper Poetry, for welcoming me.