Where Mary's Face Matters... a poem by Anne Selden Annab

Samuel Aranda has won the 2012 World Press Photo of the Year for this image, shot in October while on assignment for The New York Times in Yemen. World Press winners here: http://bit.ly/w6YFHH

Closeup of The Pieta (Italian for “pity”) by Michelangelo 1499 St. Peter's Basilica Italy

& NYC USA St Patrick's Cathedral by American sculptor William O. Partridge 1906

Where Mary's Face Matters

What is it you see
in the shadows and light
the symbols caught
in shapes
and suggestions
nudged up out of what
you know already
believe already
blocking out
how others might perceive
the exact same shadows and light

How others might know
different stories
and contexts

How others might judge
remembering Partridge's Pietà
Michelangelo's Pietà...
and centuries of art
chiseled carefully
polished smoothed
perfected
admired
and preserved

where Mary's face
matters most
conveying the human face
of sorrow
& beauty
... dignity
decency
love

A mother's love
for her child
helps express
the congregations very real love
of Christ as the Rose
of Resurrection
about to bloom...

We wore white gloves
on Easter day
with pretty pastel dresses.

poem copyright ©2012 Anne Selden Annab