From the Wind-Up Cathedral
- From the Wind-Up Cathedral
Sarah Ann Winn, poetry
The doors of the triptych open and from the darkness a little priest with a face like a hewn saint wheels forward.
Up goes a little copper-plated book, down and up. A tin hymn struck out on music box gears.
Half panes in the rose window angle on a pin, shimmering glass palm branches, shimmering resurrection story.
As one piece, the congregation stutters, then nods.
The little priest lifts his arms; the congregation lift their heads and stand.
Mouths fall open, lined with gold Glorianas. Nearby toys peer in.
No room, they mourn, pray clumsy prayers. If anyone could understand ungainly donkey rides
and being turned away, they would. [End Page 470]
sarah ann winn’s work has appeared or will appear soon in Cider Press Review, Nashville Review, Quarterly West, Right Hand Pointing, and RHINO, among others. Her hybrid piece Field Guide to Alma Avenue and Frew Drive was a finalist for the Tupelo Quarterly Prose annual contest. Her chapbook Portage was released in February 2015.
