POETRY

Cross and Sunflower for Mother Antonia You burnish bright the alloys of La Mesa. Imprisoned by love at 81 you flower out of season. Beside, beneath the cross you keep your promise. You never leave Him. Swayed by the sun the smallest seed can feed us. -- Kathleen Gunton    Orange, Calif.

Debriefing So I showed them things. Not much that was spectacular, more the usual, ordinary stuff like wild flowers, birds and seeds, the daily chores, you know, sweeping, baking, planting, fishing, getting along. I simply pointed them to what was always out there and then told them to “Go figure ...” I guess they did, or did their best at least because they kept on coming back for more, more of them too, until the crowds began to draw attention, began to look, to some, like mobs, began to worry those who worry about such scenes. It didn’t take them long -- never does -- to detect some kind of threat, something to be got rid of before it got too late. The rest, of course, is history. Or was. -- J. Barrie Shepherd    Wallingford, Pa.

Note to poets: Short lines preferred. Poetry is published in a newspaper column only 35 characters wide, counting punctuation and spaces. Submit poems to Poetry, NCR, PO Box 411009, Kansas City MO 64141-1009, or e-mail at poetry@ncronline.org.

National Catholic Reporter, April 4, 2008