May 13, 2009 / Creative Writing
I watched Rebel Without a Cause on TV late one college night when I learned …
Mary, Mother of God, taker of hands,
bright pitcher wielding the life of life. You know
a woman with child must eat enough for two,
yet meek and mild prescribes some son of man
who holds the mighty high and lowly low,
who paints you pale but tinges Eve with stain,
who meets a holy hunger with reprimand,
for wonder’s a useless sword against her woe.
No! God-bearer, taker of holy chances,
vessel wielding tiny fingernails like pearls,
you moved toward Eve—no time for timid glances,
your sister’s foot was caught in serpent’s snarl.
Your full-of-child hands reached hers, reached the tree,
and by that hunger and reaching hand she’s free.
About the Author
Sarah Neff
Sarah Neff lives in Durham, North Carolina, where she is finishing a dual MDiv/MSW at Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She loves to work in devised and improvisational theater, and she hopes to continue studying how embodiment, creativity, and human healing interact. When she is not studying, Neff can be found Rollerblading, rafting, or potlucking with her friends at Oak Church.
Susan Lilley
May 13, 2009 / Creative Writing
May 13, 2009 / Creative Writing
Mary Van Denend
May 3, 2011 / Creative Writing
May 3, 2011 / Creative Writing
Mary Van Denend reflects on Simone Weil’s “Waiting for God,” a seminal piece on Weil’s understandings of grace, affliction, and our “sacred longing” for God.