A Cleanse Petition
Our Lady of Sorrows.
Our Lady Star of the Sea.
Our Lady of Banana Walks
Our Lady of stately palm trees
tall once again after lethal
yellow, cut-down disease.
Our Lady of rain on the waves
Our Lady filler of fishing seines
Our Lady of gown of cobalt blue,
wash our hearts,
do cleanse blood spill of innocents
who lose their heads.
Cleanse the ground we tread
from ground in grime of violence.
Our Lady of Remedies.
“A Cleanse Petition” from Oracabessa by Lorna Goodison. Copyright © 2013 by Lorna Goodison. Used with permission of the publisher, Carcanet Press, Manchester, UK.