ST JOSEPH'S ABBEY, SPENCER MA

She did not cry, 'I cannot, I am not worthy,'

nor, 'I have not the strength.'

She did not submit with gritted teeth,

raging, coerced.

Bravest of all humans,

consent illumined her.

The room filled with its light,

the lily glowed in it,

and the iridescent wings.

Consent,

courage unparalleled,

opened her utterly.

From the poem "Annunciation" by Denise Levertov