Channeling Dante: A Poem in Terza Rima [jenna]

Oh for the simple strength to speak the words
of she whom Gabriel called 'full of grace'
"Behold," said she, "the bondslave of the Lord"

Till then, to look upon the tortured face
of Mary's son, stretched out upon the cross--
the fusion of divine and commonplace

For there is made the only sense of loss
of waiting, trouble, trial of all kinds,
of suffering, of all that sin has cost.

If on the skull-marked hill a spirit finds
himself, why should he find himself alone?
This tormented, spread-eagled form unblinds

the human heart to sight beyond its own.
There weary souls, still swirling in the mix
of sin and sorrow, may at last be shown

the joy of carrying their nails and sticks
for love of Him upon the crucifix.