Our Lady of the Fields

Not a nun wedded to God

But a sister of another order

Married to the Beautiful Game

And present in her congregation

One thousand Sunday mornings

Of services threaded like beads

And the constant cross sent up

By earthbound feet, leaving

Both hands free to pray.

—for R.E.S., 2019 Women’s World Cup, Lyon FRANCE

RICHARD N. MOTT is a late arrival to poetry writing after a career spent in wildlife conservation and climate advocacy.  His work has appeared in After the Pause, Mudfish, Red Eft, Mobius, and Chiron Review.