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✦ 153 ✦ Mary Magdalene I When night descends my demon comes To claim the debt I owe my past. And in the dark he gnaws my heart With memories of that sinful time, When I, a slave to men’s conceits, Was nothing but a bestial fool, Whose only refuge was the streets. A few scant moments still remain Until the final silence falls. But now before they pass away, As darkness looms, I bring my life, And, like an alabaster vase, I shatter it before Thy feet. Oh, where would I now be, my Lord, My Savior and my soul’s desire, If by my bedside in the nights Eternity were not at hand, Like some new guest that I’ve enticed Into the meshes of my trade. But tell me, Lord, what sin implies, And death, and hell, and brimstone’s fire, When here I stand before all eyes, In boundless longing and in grief, Within Thy fold, like graft with tree. ✦ 154 ✦ And, Jesus, when I hold Thy feet Against my knees in supplication, I may be learning to embrace The four-limbed timbers of the Cross, To bear, benumbed, Thy body’s weight, As I prepare Thee for Thy grave. ...

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