Stone Saints
No wonder the Virgin Mary looks somber.
It’s not just her solemn baby, but sad saints
in shadows deep in the galleries—George
martyred by what looks like a baseball bat,
Tecla struggling at the stake. They’re like us,
aren’t they? Given what they can bear,
then given more. Gentle, tender, Mary
averts her gaze. Fissures in marble break
her body as if she’s made of sirloin, rib roast,
top round chine. Caryatids hoist cornices,
prop up architraves. Stone bodies wait, heads
lopped, hands serene on their shining knees.
Barbara Daniels’ Talk to the Lioness was published by Casa de Cinco Hermanas. Her other books and chapbooks include Rose Fever, Moon Kitchen, Black Sails, and Quinn & Marie. Her poetry has appeared in Main Street Rag, Free State Review, Ghost City, Permafrost, Philadelphia Stories, and elsewhere. She received four fellowships from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.
Amethyst Review 