Her White Armour

to Joan of Arc

how will she know if any of them

are who they say they are

all she has is God and the white armour

of her certainty that it is He alone she serves

she finds the path difficult but the angels of her courage

do not swerve and

mark it well and so she comes to find the Dauphin in his

disguise and calls him King who couldn't command a cell

and her voice rings like her white armour into the seventh heaven

of all that she believes although they shake their heads and

entertain their doubts as later they will entertain treachery

and betray her, Joan of Arc, the simple Jeanne

for an illicit song

and Realpolitik and Christ knew how these

matters resolve themselves over the last garment

and the gamblers.

Yet, oh Heavens dove  she gambled on Love. And won.

mary angela douglas 13 july 2021