The Donor

They put you in the picture if you pay.
So even if you didn't see the Savior,
And even if the holy bishop's hand
Didn't guide you in devout behavior
(Kneeling, near the border, looking bland),
In the painting it appeared that way.

That could be the main thing: just to kneel,
So kneeling is the only thing you feel,
So that you keep your self-willed shapes contained
Inside of you, like horses tightly reined,
And find the grace not to expand and steal

The scene. So if enormity takes place,
Something outside the scope of what you learn,
It might just overlook you, cloaked in grace,
And might come near, absorbed with its concerns,
So close you see a thought rise in its face.

~