"To See What the End Will Be..."

(In honor of Sr. Eva Regina Martin, SSF, 1939-2014)

I.

No

They told the first one

                                             and then

year after year another   no   until

the house was built  the clothes were

stitched   the old castaways  and the invisible

babies were fed  and soothed

and then

                   there were enough faces to form

a choir of hope   healing their own hearts   they

twisted scorn into praise

                                                and then

dispossessed into the wilderness

they planted  harvested  and shared among

the restless wandering spirits

a little light   a little music   and

little by little

                            the world found them

and then   they all said   yes

II.

                                              it was how

she walked up the path

                                             mother prayers

grandmother secrets    the dreams

of babies had been rolled up carefully

in remnants from the quilts    packed

into the satchel

                               she dragged along

III.

Teaching

                   touching   holding  more

tightly  the very ones most afraid

                                                               the world

became a festival of heroes   where not

even dreams could root

But when the lightning flashed that summer morning

And the corrupted sermon that had long silenced

The mother-wisdom and ways of her house

came hurtling back the air

                                                  she screamed

her loss

                 another old woman

                                                       (placed there

I know   by the one who refused English to ever

touch her  teeth)

                                 said, “But you learned it all

any way you could"

IV.

The satchel

once again

                     went away

                                            and came back

overflowing for our feast

Was she conjure woman?

                                                   Yes.

No one

                knew how  deep her eyes

could see

the    yes   that was merely static

in the streets

                          spoke loudly in

iron  stone  remnants  beads  and   feathers

and whispers never failed to satisfy

and now it is our   no   that we know

fallen to the floor

                                 we demanded the miracle

that exhausted her

                                      at the last

And  no   was prayed and sung and caressed

in the vigil of those weeping before the tomb

was readied

Until

the first one

flung the light

and dissolved the shadowed room

                                                      reaching

her hand    she said    now

and the gentle sister of us all

said

yes

yes

9 April 2014

Sr. Mary Eva Regina Martin, SSF.Born in Grand Coteau, Louisiana, in 1939.  Entered the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Family on September 8, 1959, professed First Vows on August 15, 1962, and Perpetual Vows August 15, 1967. Masters in Black Theology from Xavier University. Doctorate in African American Studies from Temple University (1994).  Educator and Administrator of Catholic schools in Louisiana and Texas. Curator, Archivist, Consultant.  Sr. Eva Regina was elected to leadership in her Community and served as a General Councilor, Vicar General, and succumbed to death, April 7, 2014, while presiding in office as Congregational Leader.