Vox Populi
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Elizabeth Romero: The Sisters Who Raised Me
Lest I think it was all bad.
I remember it in pieces, patchwork,
Which ignores the print, the weave.
Though I miss my poor mother
Who could not love me because she was not loved.
Now I thank the black butterflies, the Sisters who raised me.
Sister Jane, who taught me how to garden and identify weeds.
Sister Marie Therese, kind and soft. Sister May Bride
Who defied authority to comfort me when I was disgraced.
All of them: Sister Germaine, Sister Christopher, Sister Mary Jean,
Sister Camilla, Sister Marcia. I see them now
Gliding along the path toward chapel.
I hear them singing Vespers.
Sister Mary Kay, Sister Mary Joseph.
Work is love made visible.
Age Quod Agis.
Do what you do.
I would be giver and forget the gift.
I thank them. In later years without money or a home
I had to reach down to find the strength, the gift
They gave me.
Copyright 2022 Elizabeth Romero
Vox Populi 
Beautiful poem of difficult gratitude. “Work is love made visible”–❤️
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Thanks, Lisa. I love this poem as well. Michael Simms https://www.michaelsimms.info
Author of Nightjar Author of American Ash Founder of Autumn House Press Editor of Vox Populi
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I think of mom, often living in convents while her widowed mother taught on reservations. I know she endured pain. She rarely mentioned her childhood.
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I often feel very sad thinking of the abandoned children.
M. Michael Simms https://www.michaelsimms.info
Author of Nightjar Author of American Ash Founder of Autumn House Press Editor of Vox Populi
>
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“Though I miss my poor mother
Who could not love me because she was not loved.” (Oh how I know that feeling!)
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Yes, the tragedy of intergenerational trauma… Michael Simms https://www.michaelsimms.info
Author of Nightjar Author of American Ash Founder of Autumn House Press Editor of Vox Populi
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“Work is love made visible”; if many people understood it, the world would work better, with much more serenity.
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Agreed, Vengo!
Michael Simms https://www.michaelsimms.info
Author of Nightjar Author of American Ash Founder of Autumn House Press Editor of Vox Populi
>
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