by Johanna Caton

not a new meditation mantra
       a select self-help system
       a Real Results! regimen
       or any other riveting
       endeavour at rind-repair


has hands supple as flame
     eyes relentless as mirrors
     footsteps inexorable as time
     irrevocable as paradise

Johanna Caton, O.S.B., is a Benedictine nun of Minster Abbey in England. Originally from Virginia, she lived in the U.S. until adulthood, when her monastic vocation took her to Britain. Her poems have appeared in both online and print publications, including The Christian Century, The Windhover, A Time of Singing, Amethyst Review, The Ekphrastic Review and the Catholic Poetry Room webpage at integratedcatholiclife.org. Some of her poems can be found at www.integratedcatholiclife.org/?s=johanna+caton