First Annual St. Mary of Magdala Poetry Contest
First Place
The Brief Agony of Mary Magdalene
Jesus at that moment when Mary
mistook him for the gardener --
himself to Himself already
a ghostly memory on the cross--
allowed her a few more minutes
so he could watch her weep
and let what he remembered as his heart
be broken one more time.
The sweetness of it, so human,
the bitter sweetness of abandonment.
He must have wished then
that he was indeed the gardener,
so he could linger to watch
the other face of the Incarnation
(the part he could never play)
resurrected by a single word, her name,
pronounced with tender authority.
God's extended finger touching Eve.
Robert Longoni, Ramah, New Mexico
Second Place
Untitled
Mary of Magdala
Lodestone
O so lustrous
Deep rich vein
of women’s history
I love you
Jean Becker, O.S.F.
Third Place
Mary Magdalen
The instant
a word from the Baptist
- windblown seed -
stirred me
it begot
the very Life.
I gladly
renounced
my body
my blood,
nothing
left
in me
but
Jesus.
Theresia Saiers
Fourth Place
The Cup Of Magdalen
So like green corn bending
St. Mary of Magdala carried
The Holy Seed of Wisdom,
Sophia`s quickening, nurtured
At her breast.
For in so loving the world,
God sent a gentle Light
To shine within the darker
Womb-space of time eternal
Until each soul dares to claim
It as their own.
Nancy Carrington Schmidt
Fifth Place
"The Fifth Gospel"
Did Mary Magdalene
really write the
fifth gospel?
If she did,
where did it go?
St. John said
if he were to sit
and write every story
of Jesus Christ,
the whole world would fill up.
The pages poured into the ocean
would soak up the sea,
the words scrawled in dirt
across the desert,
carved in ice across
mountain glaciers,
dug deep into the core of the
earth and out the other end,
would spill over into eternity.
But where did Mary's book go?
Was it crucified and burned in Salem,
along with the ones they called witches?
Did it fall accidently from the
door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg
and flap off unnoticed in the wind,
never to be seen again?
What would be different if we
could turn to it now
without blinking after reading:
" Jesus did many other things
as well?"
Kate A. Durbin
Judging by Categories
Category 1: Mary... her Heart (8)
1st: "The Brief Agony of Mary Magdalene", by Robert Longoni
2nd: "Mary Magdalen", by Theresia Saers
3rd: "Easter", by Theresa M. Grass
Honorable Mention: "Magdalen", by Katherine Conway
Honorable Mention: "Where have you laid him?", by Christa Cunningham
Honorable Mention: "Magdalen", by Audrey Synnott
Honorable Mention: "Mary's Search Revisited", by S. Frances Smalkowsk
Honorable Mention: "Mary of Magdala, Woman of Incredible Good News!",
by Consilia Karli
Category 2: Mary...in Art (3)
1st: Untitled, by Jean Becker
2nd: "The Cup of Magdalene", by Nancy Carrington Schmidt
3rd: "Can We Make It As Far As the Tomb", by Marjorie Kowalski Cole
Category 3: Mary... in Verse (6)
1st: "Mary of Magdala", by Amy L. Landry
2nd: "Living Branch", by Yeti Suthorland
3rd: "Sweet Mary, So Dear", by Theresa Bruce
Honorable Mention: Untitled, by Priscilla Stork
Honorable Mention: "Apostle to the Apostles", by Eleanor Appleyard
Honorable Mention: Untitled, by Shanon Sterringer
Category 4: Mary... our Inspiration (6)
1st: "Spirit of God", by Margaret Barry
2nd: "Mary of Magdala", by Mary Donnelly
3rd: "Magdala", by Marie M. Mulvenna
Honorable Mention: "Saint Mary of Magdala", by Colm Holmes
Honorable Mention: Untitled, by Jeanne M. Le Blanc
Honorable Mention: "Mary of Magdala", by Cathy MacDonald
Category 5: Mary... her Legacy (6)
1st: "The Fifth Gospel", by Kate A. Durbin
2nd: "Oh Magdalene!", by Mary Rose Betten
3rd: "Sacrament", by Theresia Saers
Honorable Mention: "To the Holy Mother Church", by Barbara Truncellito
Honorable Mention: Untitled and "Mary of Magdala", by Roberta Allen
The Grand Division: All Poems
1st: "The Brief Agony of Mary Magdalene", by Robert Longoni
2nd: Untitled, by Jean Becker
3rd: "Mary Magdalen", by Theresia Saers
4th: "The Cup of Magdalene", by Nancy Carrington Schmidt
5th: ""The Fifth Gospel", by Kate A. Durbin
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