May 17, 1924 - South Bend, IN

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]

Thirsty

Following, following 'cross the wasteland

A steward who steadies with wit and staff,

Pilgrims set lonely course, buried in sand,

Hoping their no-name horse will find true path.

Marking the course with blood so red, they ford

Streams running wild, oh running wild with greed.

Such hopeful souls the dreaming pulls forward

To loving words, a face serene indeed.

Thirsty they are and, silent, they behold

St. Nick in this desert guarding a stream;

Peace and victory pouring from source untold.

Truth visible only for those who dream.

Her voice soothes the bile riled by false faces;

Stream fouled by fairness still bears Her traces.

Barbara Butler McCoy

[[Image - composite of the author's photos; slogan found painted on

the wall of an outbuilding of the Spruill Gallery, Dunwoody, GA, 2009;

Our Lady of Guadalupe, paint on tile, shrine on grounds of St. Jude

the Apostle Catholic Church, Atlanta, GA, 2009; wall, 2008; thanks to

Sean for his Photoshop tutelage!]]