​Chartres Cathedral               nobody calls her
The Basilica of Our Lady              of Chartres

names have a way of falling     to the lowest
denominator              me a homesick pilgrim
a young missionary       stepping into a bible
of sculpted stone           ignoring the famous

stained glass windows           something else
fascinated my eye     carved into the granite
scenes depicting                            Jesus’s life
familiar ones        except one             I stared

—the circumcision                             of Christ

I had not considered it before   was it a holy
moment?    but there it was      in Saint Luke
Chapter 2 Verse 21              how many times
had I read the nativity story        missed this
 
"And when eight days   were accomplished
for the circumcision                    of the child
his name was called                      JESUS—"
 
King James translated                 the name
from Greek     Joshua = Jesus      ironically
for to be Greek was to be    Uncircumcised
 
putting the name                      in ALL CAPS
next to the bit of severed foreskin       as if
shouting the cries                      of the babe
whose genitals                        were gripped
by some unnamed                         priest . . .

who dares cut                 God’s tender flesh
while he is                                     powerless
who asked permission    to place the knife
between                                          his legs?

there I stood                        still as statuary
contemplating                             my hands