The Truth Exposed
Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem
“…in Swedenborg’s Heaven and Hell, §178; after he has described the garments of the
angels, some of which glow with flame, some of which shine with light, he adds:
“ ‘But the angels of the inmost heaven are not clothed.’ ”
~ R. H. Blyth, Preface, Haiku, vol..3, Summer–Autumn, p. 648
The glowing and essential truth is more
Like naked men than like a glorious robe
Of stellar or of solar light, a score
For music of the spheres, or like a globe
That tells our futures, crystalline and hard.
The angels of the inmost heaven stand
In undressed splendor, each a blade, a shard,
A knife-like strength upon a chordal strand
Of tree-less, tenor cliffs. The unclad wings
Of verity are strong because of their
Simplicity, simplicity that sings
Like Francis through his rags. He is the heir
Of purity like light when God first spoke
It, killing shameless darkness at a stroke.