Jan 05
A Story (Inez)
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A Story, by Colette Inez (1931-)
There were rumors of a priest old enough
to be her father. She was the Latinist
he needed for his work on medieval texts.
Her family had no reason to suspect
her deference to a learned man.
She wrote she was swayed by his fame
as an Aristotle scholar
after I asked had she ever loved him.
When her clothes strained at the seams,
both may have talked of crossing
the border into Belgium.
I don’t know. No one must know,
they agreed, except their confessor,
and a colleague or two.
Dust on cathedral windows,
gathered in bouquets,
shook out again in wind and rain.
Birds migrated, wedge shaped shadows
on deltas and plateaus.
In the sacristy, among surplices* and robes,
he paced, a man clouded over with regret
for the child he might not hold.
And the woman lodged in another country?
My father did not hear her screams
pierce the leaves as I unfurled.
Clouds like bridal veils drifted above the city.
Hidden with the Sisters in an outlying part,
I grew where flowers took root in dry fields.
Soon the priest will be buried near the sea,
but my mother would grow old, recording parchments
and tomes on the history of the church.
After she slides into earth, nothing
of his name, nor mine, not a scrap
will be found in locked boxes or her vaults.
None will guess a child had slipped out
of those delicate thighs. And I will have my say.
*Loose white dress-like garment worn by priests.
This is what a surplice looks like
The sacristy is where worship materials are stored and also where the priest dons and removes his garments.
1 comment so far
4:47 pm - 1-5-2012
*Loose white dress-like garment worn by priests. Here is a picture of someone wearing a surplice: http://www.deaconsil.com/catalog/media/surplice_h97.jpg The sacristy is where worship materials are stored and also where the priest dons and removes his garments.