Poem: Lourdes

[Today is the feast day of Our Lady of Lourdes, which commemorate the anniversary of the first apparition to St. Bernadette Soubirous on February 11th, 1858. I visited Lourdes in 2017, drank the water, and bathed in the spring, and there received what I regard as both a true revelation and a miraculous healing. I wrote this poem a number of years later in recognition of this event.]

Lourdes

My Lady

who dwell in the mountains

abandon me not

forget me not

in silence

hold me

Lady of the stillness

of those overshadowed valleys

and of the spring

that bubbles up

from the depths of our despair

dark and clouded

by our filth

colder

than our loneliness

Lady of the darkness

that holds our eyes

in the night

in the grotto

under the shadow 

of your crossed arms

and Lady of the lights

the tongues of flame

melting wax

that spills upon our hands

searing

as we stumble

in your footsteps

Lady of gleaming white

reflected light

amidst the darkness

Lady of the song

we sing to you

sinners, fools,

sick and old

dispossessed, abandoned

in masses driven

calling upon you

Lady of the stench

and all the ugliness

of our decaying bodies

and souls

Lady of the shit-pile

where your daughter lived

Lady of the great grey expanse of space

beneath the ground

where we shelter

huddled together

so many

from the clamor

and the light

and the fire

that devour us

Lady of the shadows

on the concrete walls

Lady of the cinder-blocks

and the steel

Lady of this age

Queen of this great City

of blood and iron

Lady of the masses

teeming

starving

herded

driven

anonymous

to labor

and extermination

Lady of the broken selves

cast into the trash can

Lady of all those 

whom unclean iron

has pierced

Lady of all those

whom radiant idols

have chilled

Lady of all those

whose inner chamber is empty

Lady of all those

whose door is sealed shut

or broken open

Lady of all those

whom this world has defeated

Lady of all those

the righteous have despaired over

let fall

dropped out of the picture

hidden in the calculation

whose evil

the good have tolerated

whose eternal loss

the wise and just

have accepted

Lady who pass beyond

the limits of our patience

and our love

Lady of our healing

Lady of our death

Lady of Lourdes

I call upon you

over all your names

your shrines upon the earth

because I called upon you

in the night

and in the night

you heard and answered

and because I fell back

naked

into your icy waters

and you caught me

Lady of Lourdes

Queen of this age

and of me

I praise you

Amen