The Legend of the Widow Llorona

They called Llorona
a witch
because she
wore a dress and
gathered shawl
of black
with no attention
to season or time;
she lived in
the darkness
around her.
Children flew about
like carrion birds,
and Llorona
would throw up
her long hands
like skeletal fans
to chase them
away
or to protect herself
from the rocks
and curses
and invasion of light.
She could hear
the steady banter
and call of "witch!"
but only as darting
echoes
in the closed and
hollow chamber
of her nightmare.
If Truth be told
however, and it
must be,
it was not
the dress of black
or covering shawl
that everyone feared
about the widow
Llorona,
it was the
unbearable message
in her vacant eyes:
love will
never
come again.

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• Icons by Fr. William McNichols

• Information on obtaining Icons by Fr. William McNichols

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This page is managed by Fr. Raymond A. Bucko, S.J. of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Creighton University. E-Mail: bucko@creighton.edu Page Last Updated: December 1, 2001

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