All I remember of Chicago
\nwas Chagall lighting up the rafters
\nof a museum.
\nLike dawn captured in a vault of jewels,
\nthe stained glass wrapped
\nthe dull gray of Michigan
\nin a wad of light,
\nand I stood breathless
\nas a happy man will do,
\nnot at a cremation,
\nbut the birth of a star,
\ncoming from the soul
\nof the old artist\u2019s eyes.<\/p>\n
What did Chagall see?
\nHeaven over breakfast?
\nParadise at noon?
\nThe chamber of God in the evening?
\nI live in my American civilization,
\namong our engines and stock quotes,
\nwith the nerve gas and pharmaceuticals,
\nand this gray man from the east,
\nthis angel of Russian dust
\nand Jewish prayer.<\/p>\n
Like a great hawk
\nwith beauty in the talons of his hands,
\nthe supreme golden vision of his heart,
\nhe makes the sun rise in a museum\u2019s ceiling,
\nmaking me feel the city
\nlike a prodigal come home,
\nto see its spirit uplifted by a saint
\nwho opens our eyes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
All I remember of Chicago was Chagall lighting up the rafters of a museum. Like dawn captured in a vault of jewels, the stained glass…<\/p>\n