Sainted Women
Beatific—
The smile on pregnant Mary’s face
Atop a donkey bound for Bethlehem.
No sign of heartburn
Three and four AM wakeups
Even her skin, blessedly stretchy
Beneath that blue robe.
Was Sassoferrato’s vision unreal?
Or does he capture an inward glance—
A new mother stroking the first kicks
Of the new life inside her,
Murmuring to the roly-poly baby boy
Who is everything.
Isla McKetta is the author of Polska, 1994 (Éditions Checkpointed), co-author of Clear Out the Static in Your Attic: A Writer’s Guide to Turning Artifacts into Art (Write Bloody Publishing), and is currently working on a collection of poems about pregnancy. She earned an MFA in creative writing from Goddard College in Port Townsend, Washington and makes her home in Seattle with her artist husband, their son, and a dog.
3 Comments
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December 19, 2016 at 6:36 pm
Love this, especially the way the last few lines link Mary to every mother.
December 19, 2016 at 11:07 pm
Thank you, Alice!
December 20, 2016 at 8:13 pm
Beautiful!.