The Queen of Fair Women – A Poem for May

As we journey through Mary’s Month of May, we continue our series of Marian poems, this week featuring The Queen of Fair Women by Edmund Matyjaszek of Ryde… 

Tender to the touch
A womb so warm,
Beginning to bulge beneath the dress;
A slight wobble in the walk, a breath
Deeply taken, the lungs’ lunge;
While below the heart
A sharp pain of joy and pride.

She walks through the crowded streets
of her husband,
Stops for the mild gossip of the morning,
Carrying fresh fish, or hens’ eggs,
Goose feathers for a softer bed;
Almost careless in grace, so abundant
With the living presence of her Lord.

Though years will take tears to tell,
Shattering sorrow, bitter grief, bitter beyond words,
Nothing can take away that morning
When she stepped out lightly, laden with love.