Andrea Potos: "Praise Your Life"

When on a June morning heavy with rain,

you can taste the best cappuccino
this side of Rome, in a cafe
with scarred maplewood tables,
a book of Caravaggio splayed open:
The Calling of St. Matthew

that could be set in a tavern,

a gambling den, a dank office where

tax collectors are counting their day’s work,

while in the top right of the frame, a gold-

seared light slices in, and with it,

the figure of a god made man—

a bolt of radiance shoots through

his finger, pointed as if to say: You,

it is you, I have called to this life.

 


"Praise Your Life" by Andrea Potos, published online by Escape Into Life, November 6, 2013. © Andrea Potos.  

Art credit: "The Calling of Saint Matthew," oil on canvas, by Caravaggio, 1599-1600.