[Susan McLean]

Hi, Glenn, thanks for responding. I am aware of the debates about the true nature of Mary Magdalene in the Bible, but that is not what I am focusing on in this poem. Here, I am interested in the pictorial representation of the penitent Magdalene through the centuries. It was a wildly popular subject for painters and sculptors, and the range of images is vast and intriguing. Many famous artists portrayed her--Titian, El Greco, Van Dyck, Gentileschi (father and daughter), Reni, Donatello, de la Tour--often multiple times. It is not surprising, since the image of a beautiful, often half-dressed, young woman in a religious context ticks a lot of boxes.

I meant L5 to be ambiguous: remorseful for the sinning ways or for their being cut short? The speaker is addressing the person who is "picturing" her. I think the prurience alleged is associated more with the latter than with the speaker. The skull is the "mute friend" who is reticent (i.e., remaining silent) because it cannot speak. I am glad you got the last line. The syntax is unusual, but I think most readers can make sense of it.

Susan

[Carl Copeland]

I like this poem quite a lot, Susan. At first glance, it’s about hypocrisy. About those who deplore Mary Magdalene and contemplate her flesh in private (!), while continuing to sin.

I didn’t get any ambiguity from L5. “Cut short” is used adjectivally, so she’s remorseful for her cut-short sinning ways. It’s too much of a stretch to read it as “remorseful for my sinning ways having been cut short.”

My favorite line is the same as Glenn’s, and in general I like your use of short sentences and sentence fragments.

It must be the picture of Mary Magdalene that’s “for private contemplation when alone,” though it could also be the skull. (It’s hard to keep poor Yorick out of this, but I see no direct connection.)

I think the last line is as you say: convoluted, but comprehensible. Also Pauline: “For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.”

The poem delivers a very Christian message, except that you’ve substituted bone for what Christians would probably call spirit. That’s intriguing.

[Susan McLean]

Carl, I don't insist on ambiguity in L5, although given the uses to which the image of Mary Magdalene may be put, I could argue that her "sinning ways" may be continuing, whether she likes it or not. The skull is a very frequent part of the iconography of the penitent Magdalene. It is a memento mori. She is often shown as crying or appearing melancholy. I am using "bone" in an ambiguous way, too.

Susan

[Julie Steiner]

I like it, Susan. A few suggestions:

I would change the period at the end of L1 to a colon, so that the "hard truth" fragment seems more connected.

In the penultimate line, changing "now" to "will" would let "yours" refer either to plural "bones" or just a singular one, which seems helpful to the ambiguity.

[Susan McLean]

Thanks for the suggestions, Julie. I have adopted them.

Susan

[Jim Moonan]

.
The life of Mary Magdalene is a touchstone for me. She was my awakening to the carnal side of religiosity. Her wayward ways were the stuff that pubescent altar boys dreamed of. I know now that is just a perpetuation of Christianity's biases and blind spots. I've long ago lost interest in her rumor-laden life. Strangely, Stephen Dedalus in Joyce's "Portrait of the Artist" is something of a Mary Magdalene. I pictured myself as him in my twenties.

I, too, wonder who "you" is. I even had some doubts as to who "me" is. I like the ambiguity of not knowing for sure who is who — Although I wouldn't be surprised if, upon subsequent readings, it becomes perfectly clear.

There are a handful of great lines in this. But given my strict Catholic upbringing this line hits home:

A pinup for repentance. Of a sort.


Julie made good suggestions that you adopted. I checked all your t's and i's and they're good to go : )

A parable poem.


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[Susan McLean]

Jim, it was good to hear what you connected to, what was ambiguous, and your feelings about both. I think a certain level of ambiguity is good, because it lets readers bring their own ideas into the poem, instead of just listening to the author's ideas. A poem like this is more about imagination than about facts.

Susan