from the Sermon at the Crossroads​

Blessed are those who know there to be no blessings
for they shall hear the music of the abyss.

Sure of foot are those who seek no benediction,
for unto them the path is lighted.

Happy are the accursed among the phantasms of virtue,
for unto them shall be granted
the soothing sweet aloe of shame and ignominy.

Prodigious are those who skip stones
for the crashing of the surf begins
with a pebble’s ripple upon a smooth mirroring sea.

Able are those who master the art and mystery of blindness
for they alone shall see their darkness.

Clever are those who wend nimbly among the snares of opinion,
for they shall bridge the chasm between ignorance and knowledge.

Prosperous are those who give away more than they have,
for their shoulders shall carry no burden.

Safe and sequestered are those who fear not the icy ruthlessness of love,
for they shall be warmed and caressed by moonbeams.

Giddy are those who transgress and offend,
for they shall join in the whirling dance of happy adversaries.

Vital are those who preserve the sanctity of spaces,
for every snowflake has its perfect double,
and the last conflagration will come when like collides with like.

Cheerful are those who thrive among the ruins,
for they shall be undeceived by hope.

Righteous are those who break the hourglass,
for its grains are as shards of spirit
petitioning release from the bondage of temporality.

Clear-headed are those who wander in the realm of doubt,
for they shall not succumb to the credulity of the congregation.

Refined and discerning are the foolish and unwary,
for they shall savor with equal delight the sweetness of the wine
and the venom of the spider in the dregs of the wine.

Buoyant are those who laugh,
for they shall not perish in the floodwaters of solemnity.

Profuse are those who are porous in selfhood,
for no vessel shall contain them,
and the hearts of multitudes shall be their dominion.

Splendid are those who spire upon the precipice,
for they shall gaze downward upon a sky swarming with stars.

Wim Coleman is a playwright, poet, novelist, and nonfiction writer. His poetry has been published in The Opiate, Dissenting Voice, Tuck Magazine, Vita Brevis, The Esthetic Apostle, Dream Noir, Visitant, The Thieving Magpie, Levee Magazine, and other publications. His book of poetry I.O.U. was published in 2020. His play Shackles of Liberty was the winner of the 2016 Southern Playwrights Competition. His recent plays include The Mad Scene, which has been described a "an Our Town about the French Reign of Terror," The Harrowing, "a rhapsody on a theme by Mary Shelley," and Wiser than the Night, a drama of ideas about the decline of democracy that asks, "What went wrong?" Novels that he has co-authored with his wife, Pat Perrin, include Anna’s World, the Silver Medalist in the 2008 Moonbeam Awards, and The Jamais Vu Papers, a 2011 finalist for the Eric Hoffer/Montaigne Medal. Wim and Pat lived for fourteen years in Mexico, where they adopted their daughter, Monserrat, and created and administered a scholarship program for at-risk students. Wim and Pat now live in Carrboro, North Carolina. They are members of PEN International. Blog: playsonideas.com.