St Non's (Poetry)

A lowly place and unremarkable at first —
a plain stone ruin, small and fenced around,
nothing to give its immense significance away
except a subtle air of saintliness.

Its location overlooking the wild coast,
the chapel posed its own discreet contrast —
peace against the elements — storm and sea —
a haven for all who seek a place to pray.

Somewhere near, she had her baby — brought him forth
into a world still dark and godless then,
and the Earth remembers, hears his newborn cry
echoed in the far-off shriek of gulls.

It is from modest places the most holy come,
from the meekest mothers that they take their cue,
and the beauty here is simple — like a truth
that speaks in whispers, honest through and through.