Inspired by three mystics—Julian, Therese, and Faustina
From their gathering spaces bounded
by wood and words, they flock toward
a place where space vanishes.
This is the shortest way to heaven.
Their line moves at the pace of Presence,
longing for the bread that becomes God.
Some would sing like angels, others stay
silent as stars. Their bones ache to be wings.
Faith desires no instruction now.
They’ve become the one-word part
in this sacred rite of consecration.
And as they approach the chalice,
heads bowed, bodies bent, eyes closed.
Shriven and thirsty, they would toss flowers
and kneel before Christ, the dew of heaven.
His goodness cloaks them.
Arks with roofs and staves, they are closer
to Christ than to their own flesh.
They hear him speak to them in the silence.
The Now is all that matters.
Philip C. Kolin is the Distinguished Professor of English Emeritus and Editor Emeritus of the Southern Quarterly at the University of Southern Mississippi. He has published more than 40 books on Shakespeare and Tennessee Williams as well as fifteen collections of poetry, among them Benedict’s Daughter: Poems (Wipf and Stock, 2017), Wholly God’s: Poems (Wind and Water Press, 2021), Mapping Trauma: Poems about Black History (Third World Press, 2023), and Evangeliaries: Poems (New York: Angelico, 2024).