Poems by Mary-Lynne Monroe

OUR LADY OF CLARITY

You opened the door
Your studio beyond
Inviting me in
Encouraging me to look

When I saw Her
In undone form
Sitting on your easel
I whispered,
It’s me.

You grinned,
Saying,
I thought so too.

We looked at her
The sketch of Our Lady.
The snow-covered field.
The woods beyond.
The naked woman
Stepping boldly
Her own path
Through the snow.

Awestruck,
I turned my gaze to you,
Friend of my heart,
Sister of my soul.
Between us,
That look encompassed
Years of knowing
A lifetime of sharing
All in those brief, long years.

I wanted you to see her.
She spoke to me,
Came to me,
From your spirit, I think.
You spoke of traditions
You neither knew
Nor wanted to know
Calling you
Because they called me.
I took that image
Home with me.
To my dreamtime.
Where the Lady
Haunted and watched
Calling me
Home to the cold,
Barren land
Of Clarity.

===

TO THE GOOD STUDENT

Dear Good Student Self,
Today I woke with a start.
A thought drifting through from Dream:
You don’t have to follow directions.

What?!?

I’ve always done assignments
in the manner written.
Isn’t that correct?
The right way to do it?

Well, yes.
Excepting, of course,
those times I didn’t.
Didn’t follow directions.
Didn’t do the assignment.
Got overwhelmed
and behind
and gave up.

Yes.
I’ve always been
an obedient student
a follower of rules
Until I wasn’t.
The very thought
that I don’t have to follow directions
is rebellion itself.
Do the assignment my own way
Because, after all, it is
my time,
my money,
my class.
Besides, I no longer have anything
to prove
nor anyone
to prove it to.