Pietà
A POEM
“Does the darkness cradle thee Than mine arms more tenderly?”
— Willa Cather
….I know but one thing
You grew
And grew
Standing forth
Tall…taut
Pain wrapped you
Beyond my heart’s fullness
You are lying across
My lap
I who gave you birth
Now cradle you
In the motherness
Of me
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A Poet under the Mercy
Many of Vanauken’s poems are reminiscent of Browning, Donne, the early Charles Williams, and others, in style, tone, and theme.
Pain of Late Conversion
Have mercy, Lord, and by your blood
wash from my brain
the sly recurring pain
…
Envy of the Empty Air
Of what do they dream
— the white-robed monks?
while we
with half-shaped forms
from…