[Editors’ Note: Learn about how the “Nine Poets Speak” series came to be in place here.]
Mystics in the Family, Bordighera Press, 2013
As a child I was afraid the Blessed Mother
Our Lady Dressed in Blue
might appear to me, her namesake,
she would come with a terrible message
I would have to tell the world
live in a convent with nuns
meaner than the ones
who were my teachers
I’d scrub endless marble floors
like poor Bernadette of Lourdes
No more macaroni, no more soda
just holy water to drink and one communion wafer a day
The Blessed Mother dictated letters
to Lucia of Fatima
the first two were about world wars
the third so horrifying
the Pope fainted when he read the words
told Lucia she had to stay locked up
never to repeat the message to anyone
I prayed to the Madonna
begging her not to appear to me
even though I was named for her
I wasn’t holy enough
I hoped she did not like me
because I chewed gum, whistled,
said curse words, punched my brothers
Now in mid-life
I would welcome an apparition
I pray each day to
the uncompromising Mother
the powerful and just Black Madonna of Tindari
She may appear to me anytime
I am not scared I am ready
she can tell me disasters
I will listen
no matter the toughness of her demands
I’d tell the world the terrible and the true
FAMA
APPARITION
in admiration of her goddess strength
I have swords in my own heart now
She can come.
(Meet Mago Contributor) Maria Famà – Return to Mago E*Magazine