AN ICON OF SAINT CHRISTOPHER ON THE ISLAND OF SYROS

Here in his church he is tattooed

with stars and robed in gold.

Rainwater pours from his sleeves.

He wades across a crystal river

with the infant Jesus on his back.

A pregnant widow kneels at the altar.

A soldier on crutches lights a candle.

The blind girl cradles her ailing cat

and lifts her eyes to the ceiling mural —

seraphs sailing by on golden clouds —

assuring herself that one day

they will rain down their blessings:

her cat will be healed, her vision restored,

and the saint, scaling the riverbank,

will beckon her to follow.