Convention in Miami
for Gerard Manley Hopkins
Around his navel this morning
a halo, a red stipple
Hopkins would love:
“Glory be to God for dappled things...”
It’s a gift from this woman
he doesn’t know
who welcomed him last night
with open arms and open legs
and sent him back to his wife
this morning, unaware
he was bringing home a souvenir,
a bright halo of crab lice.
Donal Mahoney