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In the time of lockdown Marian Christie
In the time of lockdown
Each morning she kneels on the pavement beside the cathedral’s locked gate. Her floral skirt is bright against the concrete.
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Sunbirds glint in jacaranda trees. The air is winter-sharp. There are no passers-by to observe the thin slant of her shadow,
her grace in solitude, hands clasped, head bowed, her face hidden by the floppy contours of her hat.
On the other side of the gate Christ, nailed to a cross, awaits death and resurrection. The light is unforgiving. It exposes
cracks in paving stones, hardens the edges of things, etches beneath Christ’s wreath of thorns, His pain.
Each morning she is there on the pavement and Christ is there on His cross. The gate between them, locked.
Marian Christie
(Previously published in The Amethyst Review)
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