Psalterium is the book of meat,
And Psalter is the word made flesh:
Twin oracles, consanguine and discrete,
Who serve the delvers into bowels and text
As augurs from the abattoir and crèche.
Just weigh the mantic power of entrails
That drew the haruspices and the sibyl
Who raised in their revelatory vigil
Swollen chalices and gaunt grails.
Those membranous pleats, once mucoid, glaucous, cystic,
Have dried to pages, gone to grace from gristle,
Velum to vellum, vesicle to vessel —
Body and embodiment of the mystic
When death’s corruption’s gathered into missal.
One divine and one human
Organ of accumulation and acumen
Fuse in the ritual of divination:
Psalterium of hymen and rumen,
And Psalter of hymn and oblation.
Psalterium – The third stomach of a cow or other ruminant; from the Latin word Psalter “a book of Psalms” due to the resemblance of the stomach’s folds to the pages of a book.
Psalter – The Book of Psalms or a collection of Psalms for devotional use.
the word made flesh – A reference to the New Testament, John 1:14 “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.”
Consanguine – The same as “consanguineous” meaning related by blood, descended from the same ancestor.
Abattoir – (Pronounced a-ba-TWAR) Slaughterhouse.
Crèche – (Pronounced kresh) A representation of the Nativity scene: a stable at Bethlehem with the Infant Jesus surrounded by the Virgin Mary, St. Joseph, the oxen and asses, and adoring shepherds and Magi.
Mantic – Having the power of divination, prophetic.
Haruspices – (Pronounced ha-RUS-pa-seez) The plural of “haruspex” (pronounced ha‑RUS‑speks or HAR‑us‑speks) From the religion of Ancient Rome, a diviner or soothsayer who told the future by inspecting and interpreting the entrails of sacrificial animals.
Grail – A chalice; capitalized, it is identified with the wine cup used by Christ at the Last Supper.
Glaucous – (Pronounced GLAW-kus, the first syllable rhymes with “law”) Bluish white or bluish gray.
Velum – (Pronounced VEE-lum) In Anatomy and Zoology, a covering or partition of thin membranous tissue.
Vellum – (Pronounced VĔ-lum) Parchment made from lambskin, kidskin, or calfskin, and used for the pages and binding of fine books.
Vesicle – A membranous and usually fluid-filled cavity such as a cyst or cell in a plant or animal.
Corruption – Here: decay, decomposition, putrefaction.
Missal – A book containing all that is said or sung at Mass throughout the year; a prayer book.
Hymen – In anatomy, a fold of mucous membrane partly closing the vaginal external orifice.
Rumen – The first stomach of a cow or other ruminant.
Oblation – A religious offering at an altar or shrine.