XIII
BOSOM

Between your arms your bosom opens
without deception, like a meadow of love;
following the never-ending path of the sun
that does not set and never rises, You embrace
the infinite within the enormous breadth
of your suffering. And with your arms,
divine Atlas, you encompass everything,
from dawn to dusk, and not on your shoulders
but on your chest, You lift it up
to the heavens. This is the unmovable
source of strength, where the world rests
on the threshold of God. On your bosom,
all Creation is supported by Love,
the footstool of Glory. If You had not
been born, our Mother Earth would
be surrounded by empty space,
resting on nothingness; but now it rests           Job 27:7.
on the bosom of the child from its womb,
on You, the pillar of the world. Inside
your bosom is a framework of manly ribs,
like those with which your Father
created woman, because you, Christ, are
the marrow within our bones. And your
bosom was filled with fresh air
that was surrounded by olive trees
and now envelops earth with its mantle,
painting the blue sky before our eyes
like a blessing. Like the white ocean
it undulated with the breath of life;
like the white sea under the sun, in waves
of love, while it lived; and now it sleeps
a peaceful sleep in mortal repose.