The Cleansing of Mary Magdalene

He’d heard about a girl from Galilee,

who cried in bed and swore she had no rest

from hungry demons quarreling in her breast.

So he paid a visit. Crouching on one knee

and warding off her fractious family,

he asked each demon’s name. Sternly he blessed

the things in her which could not be expressed

without trembling. This was the therapy

she needed to traverse her own Red Sea.

The next day she slept late; she bathed and dressed

and offered to escort the quiet guest

down to the gate. Reaching the cedar tree,

she looked back, frightened—then heard him say, Come

and walked beside him to Jerusalem.