Poetry

Marah (the Secret of Bitterness)

written by: Red Kite

Holy Mary Mother of God,
The life thou givest is bitter as thy name;
Bitter as the sea
Bitter as the salt sac
Of amniotic fluid
That enclosed thy child Jesus.

Mary, thou art the salt of the Earth
But better, of the Ocean from
Whence we come and where
We will all dissolve.

But in the meantime we are
Crucified on this Cross of Earth.
Pinned in this body like a dying bee
Struggling with clear wings
Against the fatal silken ropes
Faintly buzzing among the legs of the spider.

Not that we have wings.
Not that all is deliberately cruel,
But incarnation is a bitter gift
For God as for man.

It is no secret that the symbol for Salt
Is like that of Earth -
One line different only.
It is no secret that our tears, when
They dry, leave the white powder.
It is no secret that in the caustic lakes
Of the Sahara,
Roses grow.

They call them the Rose of the Desert
Delicately forming from gypsum
In the poisonous, bitter water.
Their growth is mysterious
Taking place mostly in the dark;
Their purpose as unfathomable
As our own.

Mother Mary, Star of the Sea,
Mother Mary, Rose of the World,
Teach us to accede to this crucifixion of Earth,
And let the Rose bloom in our hearts.

• Tweet
• Share