Magdalene’s Poem

by Jeffrey Essmann | April 20, 2022 1:00 am

[1] This week’s poem in the Catholic Poetry Room is by Johanna Caton, O.S.B.

Magdalene’s Poem

Nothing – nothing I could ever say –
no act – nor even dance – convey –
the knowing that comes of knowing Him risen –
the wonder that over-wonders brim and brim.
I can only look – look the new life –
and how will it suffice?
Only two eyes a face for filling full of heaven-bliss –
and what is this?
Two thousand-thousand eyes could look the look – and still miss!

---

Johanna Caton, O.S.B., is a Benedictine nun from Minster Abbey in Kent, England. Born in Virginia, she lived in the United States until adulthood, when her monastic vocation took her to England. She writes poetry as a means of understanding the work of God in her life, whose purposes and presence can be elusive until viewed through the more accommodating lens of art and poetry. Her poetry has appeared, or will appear in Green Hills Literary Lantern, Time of Singing Christian Poetry Journal, The Christian Century, Amethyst Review and other venues. She is a 2020 Pushcart Prize nominee.

Source URL: https://integratedcatholiclife.org/2022/04/magdelenes-poem/

---