Magnificat

by Elisabeth Mehl Greene

Sunlight streaming into a dark cave

I should have asked the angel
if I make it

I hear favor
and see the glint of swords

My life already sacrifice
for yours

blessed
and my streams of time
turn to red wine

My body the altar
where the spark of your life
set mine aflame

you will call him Jesus
and I can look no further
than your name

I will name you—
I make it until then
I expect

I feel my breath
form the word
as incense

But is this a whisper
as I fade?

I sprawl in blood
beside animals
in the filth,
slain?

Or do I make it
to the eighth day?

Will I taste sunlight
outside this dank cave?

Much beyond?
Do I know you at twelve?
thirty-three?

If I must leave now,
who will feed my baby?

I sealed my fate with my yes—
soul sanctified, body broken
confluence overflowing
I am the Lord’s servant

Do not be afraid,
and I see Joseph’s eyes
drained of faith
darken at my name

My beloved didn’t speak to me
all the way to Bethlehem

I hear good news
and feel the jarring gait of mules

and I wonder
how many steps I have left

then I hear rain

Elisabeth Mehl Greene is a writer and composer working in the Washington, D.C., area. Her opera, Hajar, won the University of Maryland Opera Composition Contest and premiered in 2019. Her first book, Lady Midrash: Poems Reclaiming the Voices of Biblical Women, was published by Resource Publications in 2016 (reviewed here on CFT). Her poetry has been published by Mizna, the Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion, and District Lines.

3 COMMENTS

  1. I see The Altar Stone, as i was reading this before i read your Poem, The Altar Stone in The Holy of Holies, where the Ark once was, – and now left is a large stone where animal sacrifice was, put on – and the blood drained down a channel, yes , and it belongs to The Dome, Al-aksah, (muslim), well your words certainly sprang that to life in our Body Altar- and perhaps menstruation or just our blood from Christ- flowing inside our inner temple- you described in artistic way, – perhaps you hadnt meant menstrual, but women are more connected to blood than ‘ men ‘ , therefore our inner workings testifye naturally ?
    I sprawl in blood
    beside animals
    in the filth,
    slain?
    ..

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