SUPPOSING HIM TO BE THE GARDENER
The Mary Magdalen Suite
BORN AGAIN - HER FIRST UNRECORDED DEATH
Mary is Baptised by John in the River Jordan
a villanelle
He holds me as a cup of trembling,
from the depths of Jordan’s night,
wordless from his hands to morning.
Wars, rumours of war, plots and scheming,
I have shed seven burdens, now contrite,
he holds me as a cup of trembling.
Now a woman to His kingdom coming,
high above me clouds of nimbus light,
wordless from his hands to morning.
Galilee in golden air is shining,
in walnuts, figs and olives bright,
he holds me as a cup of trembling.
From these waters I am rising,
into the mystery of ecstatic flight,
wordless from his hands to morning.
On the crowded shore, His face I’m finding,
from the depths of Jordan’s night,
he holds me as a cup of trembling,
wordless from his hands to morning.
MODERN MARY
an English sonnet
My future is alive and secure
in your imagination. Once, I know
I was marginalized as the poor
penitent and represented low
gutter girls and then was pressed into service
as a saint–
a patron for prostitutes
and half-way houses. But God suffice
to say, cannot anymore wear a man’s suit.
I bring my femininity to the Divine
and an immediate and personal encounter
with transcendence. And there always was an
authentic me. Independent, alive, for
my future is a alive and secure
in your imagination: safe and sure.