Madonna Complex (Poiema Poetry)

What does it mean to say yes?--to God to the Spirit to art to love to motherhood to the dazzling & tangible world? Marys response to the angel saying Let it be to me as you have said is an essential moment in the life of a disciple a woman and an artist. In Madonna Complex Marys yes is a moment of opening of allowing her very body to become a co-creator with God and a conduit for the coming of grace into the world. However womanhood in all its fullness--sexuality marriage infertility childbirth nursing--inevitably complicates traditional Christian imagery of Mary. Madonna Complex chronicles a feminine faith journey alongside saints like Joan of Arc and Saint Kateri images of motherhood in visual art through holy days of the Christian calendar--Ash Wednesday Holy Saturday All Saints Day--and sites of pilgrimage cathedrals wilderness and other places holiness can be found. These poems explore the complexities of the messages we receive about what it means to say yes to God or to something larger than ourselves that demands our attention and energy whether its bearing a child or participating in a political protest.