The Bride the Second Night of Lent
A man passed by me
in such desolation,
I held my breath,
and I asked her,
"Why can't you bring
people like that home ?"
Music-like-Sade numbed
all five senses so
who knows why I turned
to look down a darkened street,
into a darker place,
in the night,
when all of holy hope
was gone ?
Because in such distress
and at such a time,
Loren Eisley saw the
Star Thrower.
I saw
the Bride again,
in Albuquerque,
in the rain,
on the second night
of Lent. I was taken away again,
watching her process
through the gauntlet of abuse,
without fear.
Swathed in veils of silence
and the rain, she moved
toward the Groom
without distraction.
She is much younger now,
having gained in wisdom
and lost in age...
her innocence and strength
were a shock to see.
There was Present in her eyes,
but the Future also touched her.
The Past she buried in the
rain of forgiveness;
those "keys" the Lord gave her,
she used to open.
I could not bear to be seen
and was invisible at
a distance from her.
She sensed the rain in my eyes
and turned without a thought
for herself and suddenly,
lifted-up-high,
the Medallion of the Holy Child
for me to see.
2 March 1995
William Hart McNichols
- Icons by Fr. William McNichols
- Information about Fr. William McNichols and his Icons
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Fr. Raymond A. Bucko, S.J. of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Creighton University. E-Mail: bucko@creighton.edu
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