Between the Cherubim

Just who dreamed up
these chubby little charmers
with no clothes on?
Their wings seem so inadequate
for flying.  Certainly
their full-grown angels must despair
that they will ever be of use to them.

 

So there they are, the lighter touch
to make the saints seem
more approachable--
make glad their eyes and steer their hearts
...let us know the higher realms
do laugh, despite an ever-present
dour necessity of sending  sinners,
somber saints and seraphic sojourners
to their proper rooms "up there."

 

All this, one might suppose,
a matter of the checks and balances
the angelic air we have created
certainly demands,
for all the here below could never
be more fair.

 

Their talented creators allow them
only smiles; they never speak
inside their gaudy frames of gold,
but one could not presume
they are newborn, for they
adorn the central characters
with such cherubic grace
that heavenly halos drift
among them and it is not unreasonable
to expect that one of them might be
impetuous enough to stretch his stubby arms
and catch a filmy orb
as it floats by.

 

There's the answer.  They're
a natural for Rubens and his
fleshy friends who took delight
in finding something common
in the converse of their holy earth,
and dualistic heaven, the one
the Renaissance saw clearly,
while post-modern man may not.
            ~

 

Reviews

[Lydia Shutter]

Giggling here....a tribute to cherubs! Yes, they are chubby and certainly Peter Paul Rubens would be happy with their girth....as would the ladies in his paintings! An almost baroque tongue in cheek write. I enjoyed it. Lydi**

[Dean]

thanks, doll. They serve us too, n'est ce pas, and delightfully.

[Ravyne Hawke]

Rubens paintings were fluff and frill and excessive behavior, but typical of his time.. those cute little cherubim, to me, stood for excess even in the angelic world.. where full angels may have been foreboding, these chubby babes with wings were fun and carefree.. I think you've done a wonderful job of expressing this in your poem.

[Dean]

Thanks a lot.

[Sami Khalil]

A splendid read and write on the cherubim that played different roles in ancient religions. You ask pertinent questions and share your insights on them from your perspective...:)

[Dean]

Sami, thank you for your careful reading

[Sami Khalil]

You are welcome sir...:)......

[Zahra]

This is amazing, very nicely crafted.

[Dean]

Thanks. Heading off to look at yours, now.

[Marie]

You are writing about the two little angels I created, Milkyway and Greengood.

[Dean]

please tell me more, Is that a book for children, or something?

[Marie]

I've posted two stories, one called "Angel" ; the other "Assignment--Earth!". They are a little too sophiscated for children's stories. I had planned to do a series of them, but got side tracked. I'm sure they're not publishable.