This week’s poem in the Catholic Poetry Room is by Sister Lou Ella Hickman, I.W.B.S.
why should the mother of my Lord come to me
after Luke 1: 36-56
how long did you ponder that meeting—
her song
when your child danced to her music
how many nights you could not sleep for joy
remembering
your greeting her praise of the Holy One
who Gifted her
of course, your child danced again again
in her presence . . .
how often did the memory of that bright morning return
giving back the breathless moment
of when you ran to greet her
Sister Lou Ella Hickman, I.W.B.S. has a master’s in theology from St. Mary’s University in San Antonio and is a former teacher and librarian. She is a certified spiritual director as well as a poet and writer. Her poems have appeared in numerous magazines such as America, First Things, Emmanuel, Third Wednesday, and New Verse News as well as in four anthologies: The Night’s Magician: Poems about the Moon, Down to the Dark River, Secrets, and After Shocks: The Poetry of Recovery for Life-Shattering Events. She was nominated for the Pushcart Prize in 2017 and in 2020. Her first book of poetry, she: robed and wordless (Press 53), was published in 2015 . In 2021, a group of songs based on five poems from the book, that had been set to music by James Lee III were performed by soprano Susanna Phillips, clarinetist Anthony McGill, and pianist Mayra Huang at The 92nd Street Y in New York City.
