Catholic Poetry Room stained glass

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.


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Since 2019, the Catholic Poetry Room (www.CatholicPoetry.org) has shared a new poem with readers each week. Poems range in style from formal to free verse to ekphrastics, with an honest expression of each author’s spiritual journey. Many Catholic Poetry Room adult readers are new to poetry and find the poems both accessible and enjoyable. The Catholic Poetry Room is also used by Catholic School teachers, who find the poems an excellent way to begin the day with their students, to pray, or use Catholic Poetry Room verse in their academic classes.