A Day In Her Shadowy Life For The New Pope Poem by Chen-ou Liu

A Tanka Prose for the New Pope


Earlier this morning, hundreds of thousands flooded St. Peter's Square, forming crescent-moon crowds around giant video screens. Basking in an emotional send-off at his final general audience, the pope stressed, 'Loving the church also means having the courage to take difficult and anguished choices, ...'

With an emotionless look on her pale face, Mary stared at the TV screen in her rented attic room. As a white cloud of doves ascends into the sky and circles the square, cries of "Viva il Papa! " burst from the crowds.


'did you weep
when I was abused? '
she asks
with trembling hands...
wooden Jesus on the wall


Notes:

1 "Viva il Papa! " means 'Long live the Pope! '

2 According to the New Testament, Jesus cried three times, and 'Jesus wept' is the shortest verse. It is found in John's narrative of the death of Lazarus, a follower of Jesus.