Stained Glass Shadows

By Navya Shukla

Stained Glass Shadows

by fourth year Claire D’Agostino

Wispy shadows thinly veil the truth from sight.

In a devout and sacred place, a girl learns how to withhold. 

Through stained glass comes a tendril of light.

Penance leaves her with rosary beads in hands clasped tight,

Impure thoughts to evanesce, not a stain left on her soul.

Wispy shadows thinly veil the truth from sight.

Feelings bloom in silence—a dove takes flight;

Everything is beautiful and white. 

Through stained glass comes a tendril of light.

Holding hands in the pews, despite the bubbling fright—

Clang! The monstrance clatters. 

Wispy shadows thinly veil the truth from sight.

Knelt in prayer in her bedroom, a vision appears in the night:

An image of a future her—”everything will be alright.” 

Through stained glass comes a tendril of light.

Waking up in the morning, a new sensation comes: bright,

Clear, and new; Dawn like the first chapter of the rest of her life. 

Wispy shadows thinly veil the truth from sight.

Through stained glass comes a tendril of light.