Heidi van Wortendyke

Heidi van Wortendyke, you are witness
Of Goddess condescending into flesh
Who crowned my pilgrimage a year this day,
And of that yearning, even unto pain,
The longing for the inexpressible
Embodied by your teacher, who was hers,
And so, I fancy, truly a priestess
Invoking that great mercy on us all,
But on your townsman most of all, so that
He was as if beside himself until
Two hijacked aircraft brought the Towers down.
That day he turned his back on death, revoked
His half decision to avoid your art for peace,
For there can be no peace with slandering
Of life and those who serve it -- violence
Is born of that, though shameless piety
May fold her stainless hands and own it not.
Let such keep far from here of their own will.
But let him stay who honors you and art
And life, with the devotion of his heart.

©2002 FP Purcell