Epiphany
Joanie Mackowski

A momentary¹ rupture²（破裂） to the vision:
 the wavering limbs of a birch（桦树） fashion

the fluttering hem³ of the deity⁴’s garment,
 the cooling cup of coffee the ocean the deity（神）

waltzes across. This is enough—but sometimes
 the deity’s heady ta-da coaxes⁵ the cherries

in our mental slot machine to line up, and
 our brains summon flickering⁶ silver like

salmon⁷（鲑鱼） spawning⁸ a river; the jury decides
 in our favor, and we’re free to see, for now.

A flaw swells⁹ from the facets¹⁰ of a day, increasing
 the day’s value; a freakish（畸形的，奇特的） postage stamp mails

our envelope outside time; hairy, claw-like
 magnolia buds bloom from bare branches;

and the deity pops up again like a girl from
 a giant cake. O deity: you transfixing transgressor¹¹（违背者，犯规者） ,

translating back and forth¹² on the border
 without a passport. Fleeing revolutions

of same-old simultaneous boredom¹³ and
 boredom, we hoard¹⁴ epiphanies under the bed,

stuff them in jars and bury them in the backyard;
 we cram¹⁵ our closet with sunrise; prop¹⁶ up our feet

and drink gallons of wow!; we visit the doctor
 because all this is raising the blood’s levels of

C6H3(OH)2CHOHCH2NHCH3, the heart caught
 in the deity’s hem and haw（支支吾吾） , the oh unfurling

from our chest like a bee from our cup of coffee,
 an autochthonous greeting: there. Who saw it?