Science Says
By Mary Jo Bang
“Annunciation,” Orazio Gentileschi, c. 1600–1605
That the walls have no texture suggests that we,
the angels and I, are perfect. And we are,
the way children are until they are no longer.
I remember seeing ground and wondering
where walking might take me. Up or down?
In a landscape of alabaster clouds,
a ball is being rolled out as if it’s a future
about to be now, which is odd, because here,
there is no time, it’s all the same eternity.
My mother wanted to believe that
my goodness would last and I suppose it has.
I’ve killed no one. Whenever I was lost,
it was like a daredevil airshow,
the angels and I free-flying at 90 thousand feet.
