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NOTES TOWARDS A DEFINITION OF A 'PERSON'

So, it seems,
You have a face,
still, unmoving,
and that stillness
not a moment in time,
not an incident
occurring in a particular
space, not even
enclosed in a particular
body, for what are
the faces of the Saints
if they are not Your Face?

The icon is a symbol, Lord, meaning
(Theodore the Studite dixit)
that the painted image IS
in a manner of speaking
You,
as a shadow is
in a manner of speaking
You.

Lord, I do not know,
looking at the play,
which is more real
- the actor or the mask.
Years ago I wondered
if I might be a mask
worn by my enemy,
and now I begin to wonder
if my enemy mightn't be a mask
worn by me.

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