Milagros

for Linda

Miracles made of punched tin:

arms, heads, legs,

bottles, cows, Jesus, eyes,

penitents, sacred hearts,

keys, trucks, cactus,

chalice, lungs, Mother Mary.

Heal me, fix that, bless him,

remove this, send us a vision!

Oh battered milagros, stand-ins

for what we can’t say,

must have, will die without.

Shine like a rich man’s silver,

catch the fickle fancy of god,

carry each clumsy prayer

to his hand. What wouldn’t we give

just to jingle in his pocket,

know someone hears the tin tin tin

of our poor voices?

—Deborah A. Miranda

(published 4/1/13)