Opening wide           wider still.

This is the mellifluous singing
     of the hinges in motion.

This is you, cautious, just
     peering in initially.

This is the glorious rose-colored light,
shining, no, streaming down,
and in.

This is you—blinking, barely able to see.
This is the entering that seems endless.

This is the aesthetic, the artistry—
the film beginning to roll now,
the dramatic music finally kicking in:
Con te partiró.

This is the audience now
     shifting to the edges
of the sweaty seats,
expecting a reason to.

This is your mouth,
opening wide           wider,
perhaps letting some long-held breath go finally,
or perhaps just forming the words
“Thank you.”

This is you, daring to take the first step in.
This is your first heel, touching down.

This is the entering.

This is the once-in-a-lifetime
circling ‘round again.

This is the body being given over to faith,
as in sacrifice.

This is the hosanna, the alleluia,
the praise-be-to-some-Graciousness-in-the-highest.

This is the entering
prayed for, fantasized about—
this is that entering.

     Thank you.

James R. Whitley’s poetry has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and published in numerous literary journals including HEArt, Poetry Midwest, Valparaiso Poetry Review, and Xavier Review. His first poetry book, Immersion (Lotus Press, 2002), was selected by Lucille Clifton as the winner of the Naomi Long Madgett Poetry Award. He is also the author of the chapbook Pietà (Pudding House Publications, 2001), which was selected as a finalist in both the Summer 2000 National Looking Glass Poetry Chapbook Competition and the Maryland State Poetry & Literary Society’s 2000 Chapbook Contest. Mr. Whitley’s newest chapbook, The Golden Web, is available in electronic and trade paperback formats from Wind River Press. Currently, Whitley lives in Boston, Massachusetts.