Latest Poem
- To Know You Risen
To know you risen it is enough to wait
and pray with Mary grieving at the tomb,
the darkness slowing dawn, obscuring day,
though you, unseen, had overthrown night’s doom.
You see her weep, her head is down. Surprise
is your prerogative, but not by shout
or shock. By subtle turns you help her eyes
to open, heart to hope—the ice of doubt
to move, to melt. And so in tones Elijah heard—
or felt—in sighing breeze, oh Lord, with still,
small voice, you tender questions. First, they blur.
But when you call her, “Mary,” darkness fills
with you, as when her seven devils fled—
as when she knew you first. She lifts her head—
Johanna Caton, O.S.B., is a Benedictine nun of Minster Abbey in England. Originally from Virginia, her monastic vocation took her to England. She writes poetry because the process helps her to understand the word and work of God in her life. She is a regular contributor to the Catholic Poetry Room. Her poems have been included in anthologies, among which are All Shall Be Well, Poems for Julian of Norwich and Thin Places and Sacred Spaces, both edited by Sarah Law and published by Amethyst Press. Her work has been published or is forthcoming in Today’s American Catholic, Vita Poetica, One Art, Fare Forward, Christian Century, St. Austin Review, Ekphrastic Review, Fathom Magazine, Windward Review and other publications. She is a Pushcart Prize nominee.
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