Reflection

by Fanny Brewster

Grandmother kneels over the washing board at Miss Parsons,
later piecing each cloth on the line, one to the other
attaching them without flaw,
waiting for the sun to leave hiding behind morning clouds,

moving in a solemn way.

The preacher holds pieces of white cloth
attached in their symmetry as he
prays and prepares for first Sunday service,
sun streaking forward to touch the bleached white
and he lifts himself from his knees,

moving in a solemn way.

Hands delicately touch tiny white circles of communion,
amens float to the surface same as whispered desires
for the Love that is without limit,
first Sunday white vestiges enfold us
as we commune together under stain glass reflections,

moving in a solemn way.

Fanny Brewster has an M.F.A. in Creative Nonfiction from Goucher College and currently teaches Psychology to doctoral students. This poem is from a poetry manuscript titled Blue Pearl Incantation with poems about experiences and relationships that take place at various times in Brewster’s life, in her birthplace of Georgetown, South Carolina.