Real Life

The Sacrifice of Isaac, 1598 
 —Michelangelo Caravaggio

The painter has grabbed a butter knife 
from the nearest table and shoved it 
into his Abraham’s hand, instructing, 
Be this boy’s father and cut him open, 
though the street urchin who plays Isaac 
isn’t afraid or very interested in being a prop. 
The feathers of the angel’s wings 
look like fluffs of papier-mâché. 
The ram is bored, maybe embarrassed, 
like any sensible beast made to pose.

But Abraham’s yearning question 
that meets the angel’s serene regard, 
the search for the face of God 
in the face of the messenger— 
he would kill for this.