March 8 marks International Women's Day, a fitting one for Sister Jane Wilcox's poem

The Woman

True Colours

A wandering woman, light filtering through her darkness

steps timidly toward the dawning horizon.

Landscape rugged, her heart amassed with trouble -

walks and runs the sacred dimensions of earth.

The violent creative destruction

the woman has known

And yet her dreams of energy unfolds…

Radiant beauty struggling to emerge.

She embraces the sufferings of the Universe

In her own person.

Her creativity, passion, destruction,

a sacred journey.

The uniqueness of the woman's existence

a fresh expression of life.

The cosmic rhythm is spewed forth

as she dances toward the night.

Awesome darkness, terrifying brilliance,

the adventure of life.

By Jane Wilcox CSJ
Photo by Mary Doreen Smith CSJ