Hallmark World

by Maria Claudia Faverio

Hallmark world
The chemical beats of the sun
forget themselves
in the boundless breath
of morning,

yielding to the burnished metaphors
cherished by common people,
the fresh magic
of the incipient day.

It is a kind of joy
mocking formulas and rites,
undusted ledgers on slate desks,
the joy of unsealed eyes
confronted with unparalleled
excellence,

a world hushed to inaudibility
in spite of soft beginnings,
still assuming intent and chance.

It is these paper-thin images
that breast the stern face
of the full-grown day
with its sharded rainbows,
spilling meaning
on the meaningless.

These images
straying out of dreams
are the prelude to hope,
cracking possibility
in spite of this and that.