it was first a gun 
closet built upstairs between an 
attic and hallway wall
wide as my shoulders   deep as my height 
and taller which i converted by removing the gun 
rack shelves and polyester shag carpet


i stained all six sides gloss black
i cut a black yoga mat for flooring
i covered it and the opening with black felt


opposite the closet door i installed a black 
mirror to fit the length and height of the north wall
i consecrated it to black madonna & child –


black   cosmic light floods ​unreflected–
madonna   spacetimewomb expanding into     –
child   for anyone of us who ask whence–


when i close myself inside this closet
when i sit on the kneeler and open my eyes
the mind inside my silhouette levels 
with the mind outside
into a telescopic mirror as simply disregarded 
as the gap between thought breath moment aeon


i watch for this gap    i can trace neither whence 
thoughts enter nor pass back


every changing thought:
            their gaps betray the blackness:
                        intrinsic freedom…
​

Twice nominated for the 2023 Pushcart Prize, Elder Gideon is the author of two poetry collections Gnostic Triptych and Aegis of Waves (Atmosphere Press) and co-author with Tau Malachi of Gnosis of Guadalupe (EPS Press, 2017). He is queer. His poems and sculptures have appeared in dozens of journals. He’s an alumnus of the 2022 Kenyon Review Summer Conference and the 2021 Community of Writers. A veteran English teacher-activist and faith leader of a mystical Christian tradition, Gideon lives to connect. Reach out to him @elder.gideon or eldergideon@gmail.com.

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