Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
LukeJune 04, 2020

By Luke

Oh
When I saw him die
I no longer
cared about the trembling     the tears
no one walks these streets     except
the very few
                      and the solitary runners
choke me    I cannot breathe against
the rhythm sorrow beats into my
throat

             I moved into the morning and I will
sit against this tree
                                 seven days     they say
seven days of tattered shirts    I no longer
care   let the holes be seen   seven
times seven   I have found this place   and I
will
stay
        No   I cry  and  no  I whisper
and no one
                    cares that I am
become the Pietà without a child
even that
                even that
                                  And I hum “Oh,
Mary,
Don’t You Weep” and she is now
                                                       here with me
saying   No   you will   you must   drain your
heart
until the others come
                                    and the others will

This tree is not shelter  not from
the devouring fire  it burns
forever  and our scars
                                     pulse
with the rage that cannot sound

when the others come
                                        I will
know that we will
                             then unclench
our swollen fingers

Our hands will drum our sorrow
into this ground
                          Yes   I see
you glance at me  yes  I am
the one who whispers each
child’s name  if I cannot hold
them to my breast  I will
hold them with my song
                                       Yes
live  child  you live
                               and this
tree and I will be the place where
no lie can live

The latest from america

A leading figure in academic Catholic feminism after the Second Vatican Council, Anne E. Carr was also a renowned scholar and an inspiration to generations of theologians.
James T. KeaneJuly 01, 2025
At the time of his appointment as prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops in 2023, then-Cardinal Robert Prevost described in an interview one change he would like to see in the bishop selection process: greater involvement of lay people.
Colleen DulleJuly 01, 2025
Bishops from the conferences of Africa, Asia, and Latin America produced a joint document calling for climate justice ahead of the U.N. climate conference in November.
“One of the things I find most appealing about the award-winning writer and poet Mary Karr is her forthright, almost brutal, honesty.”
James Martin, S.J.July 01, 2025