Like Magic Beans

The word is the kind of word
that makes him gasp as if
the memory it calls takes him
outside the ordinary stream of things
to the farthest point of fright.

It's like the salesman
on the way to the fair when he
sees Jack's cow and says"magic beans" with his mouth open
hardly able to catch his breath,
"magic beans," "MAGIC beans,"

the fear of God
for someone who came close to
seeing God's face, not just
theory but fact that fits nowhere
among facts. a lump of fact
that won't be swallowed along with
the smooth porridge of the world.

What does he know that he can't say?
In his dark secret passage through
the day what stops him
that makes him tall
and brightens his eyes?