The Annunciation, by Henry Ossawa Tanner The Annunciation Oh, to you it seems a forgone Did I see the pain ahead and flinch? conclusion, the obvious outcome, No - life is pain, I would have suffered the only possible answer. Anyway, that was not the...
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The Annunciation, by Henry Ossawa Tanner The Annunciation Oh, to you it seems a forgone Did I see the pain ahead and flinch? conclusion, the obvious outcome, No - life is pain, I would have suffered the only possible answer. Anyway, that was not the problem, Who could say no to an angel? It was never that. It was that I saw But there was a moment when I change, the whole world changing, hesitated. I remember a wild desire the shaking of foundations, the rending Not to be chosen, just to be of fabric, the tearing of flesh - a village girl, someone’s wife - and I, the cause. I did not want such I wanted the angel to leave, to find power. Then, with a sound like wings, Some other girl and offer her Everything settled into place. I passed That destiny, that salvation. into and beyond the change. When I said I wanted to say no. Yes, I was already in the future. Patricia Monahan Reflection: Have I ever felt like Mary in Tanner’s Annunciation painting or Monahan’s poem? What may hold me back?
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