MEDITATION OF THE DAY
Happy Contagion
Oh happy the discovery
of leprosy in me—
urgency it brought me,
pining for relief
in tension toward a remedy,
mysterious, unknown
though I knew it by its soothing
and cleansing to the bone—
not an ointment but a person—
his solace and his will
apportioned for a purpose—
I didn’t know how ill
till I felt complete recovery
issue from his hand.
Oh happy the contagion
that led me to this man.
Rita A. Simmonds
Rita A. Simmonds (ritaasimmonds.com) is an award-winning poet. She is the author of a memoir entitled Convicted by Mercy: The Journey of Frank Simmonds from the Streets to Sanctity and four books of poetry, her latest being He Called (Magnificat). / From an unpublished manuscript. Used with permission.
