Sr Dolores and the Angels Copyright © Victor Weston 2010

Entering the Abbey Church in the early morning
assemble the villagers for worship
joining with the silent praying cowled monks
already in their stalls

Rita, who plays the organ, comes up and takes her place
also a selection of the guests visiting
and Sr Dolores, who sits quietly on the back bench
and who often-times takes up the breads at the offertory

her two cats, Nial and Olar, would follow her around
from her cottage St Ignatius, on her perambulations,
as an indicator of fraternal affection Fr Jan,
a calligrapher, inscribed a stone for Nial when he died

Now in the open boat from Tenby, in the rain
with a slight swell to the sea
empty of passengers save for Dolores and I
I suddenly become aware either side of her
there are two angels, of energy and divine light,
supporting and safeguarding her

I mentioned this fancy of the imagination
but it would surprise no-one who knows her
providentially, lovingly, accompanied
as she resolutely prepares for a move, not to Jerusalem
but to the mainland
after thirty years of seclusion on the island of Caldey