‘Maudlin’ is a powerful word I find
Not insulting
Not unnecessarily unkind
It comes from Mary Magdalene
Who wept at Jesus’ feet
Who wept beside the cross
And then the tomb
Who wept on Sunday morning
When an empty tomb was found
Who found herself beside herself with grief
This one was inconsolable
Nothing could take her pain
She clung to it
No body now to mourn
Until a word was spoken
And Mary turned around
And life was there
Incredible but sound
And we are maudlin
When we live our lives beside the tomb
The days of death are sorrowful and sad
But sorrow knows an ending
And life we must resume
God is a God of the living
That’s the tune
Brian Fahy
20 April 2021
Erris Poetry 