MEDITATIONS IN A MUSEUM CLOISTER
Mournful
Madonnas with pathetic smiles
hold
out carved Babes to visitors with such
a
wistful eagerness, a naïve hope.
The
printed placard says PLEASE DO NOT TOUCH.
Consummate
skill, the guide remarks. It would
behoove
the
sightseer to know this item well. The
Louvre
contains
the head. Where are the limbs? He does not know.
but
here’s the torso nailed tight to its cross.
Still graceful, though.
The
drapery has such finesse. The folds
still keep
their
colour. Tourists nod. Beneath, John and the Virgin weep.
Sister Maryanna
America. 23 September 1939
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