This week’s poem in the Catholic Poetry Room is by Sister Lou Ella Hickman, OVISS.
the sick man at the pool of bethesda [John 5:1-9]
angel of the water
stirs again
this pool
this waiting . . .
just beyond my grasp
and who will help me in
the surface trembles in reply
then is gone
Sister Lou Ella Hickman, OVISS, is a former teacher and librarian whose writing has appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies. Her first published book of poetry is entitled she: robed and wordless (Press 53, 2015) and her second, Writing the Stars (Press 53, 2024.) She was nominated for the Pushcart Prize in 2017 and in 2020. Using five poems from her first book, James Lee III composed “Chavah’s Daughters Speak”, first performed at 92nd Street Y in New York City. Other venues were Cleveland, OH; Dallas, TX; Philadelphia, PA; Clayton University, Atlanta, GA; Sanibel Island, FL; and Washington Irving High School in New York City. The most recent concert was held at First Methodist Shoreline in Corpus Christi, TX, for their First Friday program.
