The Star-Eyed Girl Speaks Before Dying

We knew she’d never stay.
Even with eyes closed,
she radiated and made
Sister Cora clutch her Rosary
and plead with the Virgin
to send the star-eyed girl away--

not to Hell, mind you,
but gone like Father Martin
whom the girl drove mad.
Last we heard, he was in Mexico,
desperate for forgiveness,
praying the whole night through.

Her eyes wide open, she spoke:
There will be an end
and you will wish for me.
Then she fell, lifeless, to the grass.
Sister Cora gave thanks, some sighed,
and I picked up my cross that broke.