Tricia Brown
Our Lady of Guadalupe
Onto my shoulder I hoist
my pack of aims. Arrange them,
religiously, in my room,
beside change of shoes, four
books, vitamins. First,
Vespers. The bell chimes and I lurch,
judge who’s been the longest
by the ease of their gait.
On arrival, I marvel
men do this – five times a day,
plainsong the Psalms.
Hands fumbling in floor-length sleeves.
Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy.
My mind still full of the day’s wars.
By morning I’ve sprawled
into solitude’s space. I walk
to nowhere on labyrinth trails
festooned with new clover and rocks
donning mossy afros.
Casting off the need to prove,
improve myself, I befriend
a modest book. In the languid
hours of afternoon, snooze.
My captors unarmed. Dusk
on the pond outside my cell
spreads like eiderdown. At
Compline – with candle glow
setting on icons and altar -
my pose yields, becomes a prayer.
As shapeless and open as mercy.
Page(s) 42
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