Spouse of the Lamb Who was Slain

Saint Joan

You felt so afraid, 

so all alone

in the dungeon

of disbelief

mistrust,

daggers thrust

into your confidence.

Your cheek

you turned

against the splinters

of the stake

and there it stayed

and burned.

Charred body's 

what was left

to tell the story of your death. 

But of your life,

what could we say?

 

Not a fallen soldier

but a burnt and blackened bride

went to paradise 

that day.

Rita A. Simmonds, Magnificat,  pp.424, 425