Young Mary

I know not all of that which I contain.

I’m small; I’m young; I fear the pain.

All is surprise: I am to be a mother.

That holy thing within me and no other

is Heaven’s King whose lovely Love will reign.

My pain, his gaining my eternal gain

My fragile body holds Creation’s Light;

its smallness shelters God’s unbounded might.

The angel came and gave, did not explain.

I know not all of that which I contain.

“Young Mary” by Madeline L’Engle

A Cry Like a Bell: Poems, 1987