MARIE CLEMENTINE

MARIE CLEMENTINE

(b. September 16, 2011, 10^th Grandchild, a Perfect 10!)*

Mild, merciful, a small orange:

you would have to tell those

who would ask what your name

means like all tags could mean

anything from noone to someone

but pray, not anonymous. Never. 

For from this day forward, love,

when the sun is a lambent light,

when the rain is a gentle spray,

when the wind is a soft caress,

when all that is harsh is salved,

we shall call them all clement.  

And we will remember you,

Marie Clementine, like the mild

dawn that greeted you when you

slipped quickly out of her womb,

mercifully sparing your mother

the pain that birth is twinned with. 

Did your laughing père not call you

a little citrus fruit, a tiny orange

wailing your little heart out when

you quivered into our tired world?

O, Marie Clementine! O clement,

O loving, O sweet mother of God. 

When angelus descends at dusk,

You become a prayer, too, Marie.

---Albert B. Casuga

09-17-11

* A description only an excited grandmother like Lourdes Veronica (Nicky) Lim-Casuga could muster. Marie Clementine, our 10th grandchild, is her parents' --- Martin Lalonde and Adele Casuga-Lalonde --- unmatchable gift for abuela Nicky's birthday on September 17.