Our Mother

Mary’s Swaddled like Jesus

I wonder who’s closer to God

A gentle army joins together

On plains no feet remember

Arms locked, eyes clear, heads bowed at the nave

Twilight’s blessing, expected in embers

But the sky’s hush drowns their dreams

The entity has already fled 

Across the world

Circling

Orbiting

Hawking

Atop a stolen halo

Ready for the next virgin

Who dare rest her head on man-scorched hay

They’ll swaddle her like Jesus

To save her unsent Son

I wonder if they hear

Deferred messiahs

Octuplet-sets, in concrete wombs for one

Wailing

Begging

Praying

For their stolen homes

But chopper blades soundproof the brain

Maybe Mary’s set free

And the cloth has calmed her sighs

Her palms lay empty & open

Awaiting answers from the skies

Mary’s lost like Jesus

But maybe she’s closer to God

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Brendan Carroll is a Senior in the SFS majoring in Business & Global Affairs with a minor in Justice & Peace Studies