by Carol Alena Aronoff

Teresa of Avila

And if you enter her room     while
she is at vespers     and if you lean
against the wall,          you will feel
bare planks                  imbued with 
the perfumed resin           of prayer,
cracks filled in  with piety 
and purity of purpose.        And the
barely audible hum      of continual,
ecstatic devotion.  Gravity has fled 
this unwindowed cell,  this aerie of 
a wingless bird. There are no flight 
restrictions,       no limits to soaring.
A subtle light     reveals the Sacred.
No crucifix           is needed.

Carol Alena Aronoff, PhD is a psychologist, teacher, poet. Her work has appeared in numerous journals and anthologies andwas twice nominated for a Pushcart Prize. She published 4 chapbooks (Cornsilk, Tapestry of Secrets, Going Nowhere in the Time of Corona, A Time to Listen) and 6 full-length poetry collections: The Nature of Music, Cornsilk, Her Soup Made the Moon Weep, Blessings From anUnseen World, Dreaming Earth’s Body, The Gift of Not Finding: Poems for Meditation.