PANIS ANGELICUS

Mukojima

Hiroshi Yoshida

PANIS ANGELICUS

The hour of the Angelus.

The shortest day of the year.

The room all but deserted

But for the figure resting

On the bed, not on light depending.

Hail Mary. The grace of sleep

Through her fine bones

Lift her to vision.

Elizabeth in the next room

Hears nothing, but the soft light

Has a music to it.

Be it done unto me according

To thy word.  The language of flowers.

The angel may or may not have

Beautiful wings, may or may not

Be genuflecting next to Mary,

May or may not be whispering,

May or may not be a dreaming,

But the soft light has a music to it.

O res merabilis!  Unaque poscimus

Sic nos tu visita,  ad lucem quam inhabitas.

            Translation:

 What wonder! We beg of you

That you visit us, the light in which you dwell.

            The only known film footage of Anne Frank