Beggar's Cloak

What is the body? Only a beggar's cloak,
the ragged brown shroud of a chrysalis
over tiger wings. Sepals clenched tight
around delicate rose petals.

A king in the robes of his majesty
wears a beggar's cloak underneath.
A pope in the mantle of office
wears a beggar's cloak underneath.
Sleep, eat and bathe: it's a beggar's cloak
that you feed and wash.

Take off the cloak, unwind the shroud,
let the rose open into scarlet veils.
Let them fall one by one. Look what the beggar's cloak was hiding!--
God.

Available! High-Voltage Lines, Knocking from Inside