I see her standing there
From the window by my chair
All loveliness and grace
Her face with dignity is traced
Yet soft, delicate as lace
My wish - to shield her from what may come
Wizards and Kluxers pour from the train
Coming to gather on the plain
Coming to protest her kind
The sons and daughters of Erin
They came, refugees from famine
The came to us, the free and the brave
Who resented their back-breaking labor
Blind to the practices employers favor -
Now it comes to rioting
What of this woman and her baby?
She drops to her knees and prays
I follow her gaze, and see Our Lady
Barbara Butler McCoy
(written 11.19.04)
[Photo: "Our Lady of Guadalupe," paint on tile, grotto at
St. Jude the Apostle, Atlanta, GA, 2009]
