A Simple Woman from a Pilgrim City
Can faith & simple goodness be rewarded in this life?
A call went out to a cousin —
a kindly policeman working in Warsaw —
to bring the old lady to our house
in time for Easter. She is the twin
of Yashoda’s dead mother whose
husband just passed away. Now her
hearing’s gone & the fridge is bare.
She doesn’t want to be a burden
but we don’t wish her to be alone.
In all likelihood, she will follow
Bogdan soon. This world has grown
much harder than her kind & humble heart
which can no longer pour out its grief
in the church on the corner
as it is too hard for her to walk.
Ciotka— or Auntie — lost her only child
in an accident when he was 14, but has spent
her life giving to others — one of
God’s poor who presses cash into
your hands each time you visit —
followed by the struggle to refuse.
She looks solely to Jesus for sustenance.
Now she needs our support
& will travel from her postage stamp
flat in Czestochowa — if she can face the journey.
Perhaps her faith will finally be rewarded.
Copyright Simon Heathcote
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