To Our Lady of Simple Things

[child_of_the_air]

Something at last night's seder made me think of "Our Lady of Simple Things" as a title for the Virgin Mary, and I decided I had to write a poem to her with this title.  I don't think anything in here is heterodox, and yet I've managed to make it come across as a very pagan poem, something I'm a bit proud of.

O Queen of Heaven, whose cloak is the sky and stars,

Mother of all things, visible and invisible:

     Are you not also Our Lady of Simple Things?

As you brought a child into the world without pain,

Bless us as we try to bring our own creations into it,

     though we sweat and cry over them.

You who were homeless in the city of your ancestors,

Bless the homes and hearths we make for our families,

     and bring those in need to join us around them.

As you fed your family and lit their lamps,

Bless the food we cook and serve and eat,

     and let us have enough to share.

You who show the way to perfection and salvation,

Bless us as we struggle with uncertainty,

     and guide us through our confusion to the right.

As your heart was sorrowed at your great loss,

Bless us as we cope with our daily griefs,

     and give us the strength to comfort others.

Though your home-spun cloak has been exchanged for the sky,

We remember that you once dwelt as we do, upon the earth:

     We ask your blessings for our ordinary lives.