Immaculate Conception
For Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (1648–1695)
O Immaculate Mary, conceived without sin,
Created Grace, Unfallen Creation,
let us hear again the story of our creation.
In the beginning, there is the Light,
shining within your amber eyes
holding all things.
Upper waters, stored behind your eyes,
raindrops released from the floodgates
of the firmament,
tears shed in your seven sorrows.
Lower waters, the well of your womb,
around which stand our mothers:
Rebekah and Rachel, Zipporah
and the woman of Samaria.
The soil of your auburn body out of which springs
plants, trees, vines, fruit of every kind opening
into the hand, landing sweet on the tongue.
The Sun shines around your head,
while the Moon sits beneath your feet.
You govern Day and Night.
The Sea swarms with the monsters of your dreams.
They swim beneath the surface, the dark waves rising
toward the Sky. Your thoughts cross the air
in every creature with wings.
Your mind roams the earth, over mountains,
down into valleys. Creatures are born,
creatures such as us, born gasping,
born from you, our Virgin Mother.
You rest content
with your creation,
pregnant
with what is to come,
your hands wrapped
around the globe
turning within.
About the Author: Jacob Friesenhahn is the author of the poetry collection The Prayer of the Mantis (Kelsay Books, 2025). This poem was first published in Rundelania, Issue #13, Arts and Literature Division of the Central Library in Rochester, NY, May 2023.