Sister Edna's Face
as her rosary slipped from her fingers
and her eyelids forever closed
it opened a saga of life unloved lived
hidden in her plain bed table
I found a small leather notebook
cradling a hundred raging romance poems
she'd penned over the decades I'd known her
about a life she denied
for her eighty six years
but was precious enough for her secret self
the lover she longed to be
married to Jesus was her outside face
in darkness she held womanly desires
yet remained true to her vows
vows that hid deepest passions
I remember in days long past
looking into her angelic alluring face
wondering who the woman was underneath
never knowing of course
hoping she knew more about living than me
now I fear I know what those looks meant
I've read the words
the heat of seduction
maybe it was me she loved
Illustration G. Gaul
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