Mary
from Four Nativity Poems,
by Anthony Wilson.

At first a fluttering
then a kick,
his fist pummelling my ribcage
when I knelt to pray.

They sent me away,
my belly burgeoning
shame on his name,
his eyes looking right through me.

Amazed, he took me back.
He muttered
he’d seen him too
but best not mention it in company.

I sang then,
hymning prophecies
that were poetry
inventing themselves on my tongue.

The riots and the cold
you know about.
The roadblocks.
That donkey.

Let me tell you
nothing prepares you
for that O
cracking your pelvis,

his fists flailing in air
as if from nowhere,
tarnished wings
of an angel.

They say I said nothing
but treasured these things in my heart.
Pain overruled my throat
and hasn't stopped since.

None of us gives birth
in silence.
I was no one's favourite girl

"The Annuciation", from a series on the life of Christ painted during the Korean war by modernist master Kim Ki-chang (1913-2009)

Prayer

God most high,
whose handmaid bore the Word made flesh:
we thank you that you visit us with your Holy Spirit
and overshadow us by your power;
strengthen us to walk with Mary the joyful path of obedience
and so to bring forth the fruits of holiness;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Magnificat, anima mea, Dominum et exultavit spiritus meus in Deo, salutari meo.
Quia respexit humilitatem ancillae suae:
ecce enim ex hoc beatam me dicent omnes generationes.
Quia fecit mihi magna, qui potens est, et sanctum nomen eius,
et misericordia eius a progenie in progenies timentibus eum.
Fecit potentiam in brachio suo, dispersit superbos mente cordis sui.
Deposuit potentes de sede et exaltavit humiles;
esurientes implevit bonis et divites dimisit inanes.
Suscepit Israel puerum suum recordatus misericordiae suae
sicut locutus est ad patres nostros, Abraham et semini eius in saecula.
Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto:
sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper, et in saecula saeulorum. Amen.

My soul maggnifies magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour.
For he has regarded the lowliness of his handmaiden:
from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
For he that is mighty has magnified me: and holy is his name.
His mercy is on them that fear him throughout all generations.
He has showed strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He has put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted the humble and meek.
He has filled the hungry with good things,:
and the rich he has sent away empty.
Remembering his mercy, he has helped his servant Israel,
as he promised to our forefathers, Abraham and his seed, for ever.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.