LyLena D. Estabine

POETRY

thomas

it is not out of malice or jealousy

disbelief is a deep ravine
eroded by tears on my cheeks

but you come back for me

give purpose to my own scars
my Lord and my God
You have always shown proof
to your doubtful beloved

tasting communion

let me speak of
future promise

this corruptible tongue
pronounce “deathless”
these shaking hands
proclaim “steadfast”

my mouth has tasted “already”
come remind me of
not yet

on original absence

how easily i forget my gentile veins
my original absence
from that tree of your chosen people
(on either mountain
for that matter)

still, then, my quickness
to pick up stones
soften my anger toward
the mismatched letter

whisper grace as i bristle
and questions raise up like the shoulders
where my yoke was broken off
grace has replaced the burden

I am not a God unable
or unwilling
to work

LyLena D. Estabine is an award-winning multidisciplinary artist holding a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Harvard University, where she converted to Catholicism. Writing on her faith and Catholic social teaching, she regularly publishes short poems on Instagram (@catholicpoems). Her poems have also been published in the Clayjar Review, As Surely As the Sun Lit, and the Catholic Poetry Room.

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Image: The Incredulity of Saint Thomas by Caravaggio. Public Domain.