Little miracles
Hoping for succor, promises pinned to purple velvet. Arms, hands,
legs, and backs dangle from ribbon, unblinking eyes tied to statues,
a show and tell for saints and God.
Candles smoulder. Candles turned upside down until what was lost
is found, wagers made with the Paduan, pleas to restore tranquility,
if not possessions mislaid or love stolen.
Faithless wander through shadows as tourists, but see these flagels
studded with cactus spine. Believers crawl here to kiss sainted feet,
leave bits of knees and hands behind.
Blood sacrifice. Prismatic eyes. Body of terra cotta, breath of dust.
Iniquitous night inhabits the sky. Demon mouths filled by succulence
of pearls. An owl signifies either wisdom or death.
A blue glass eye shields from evil intent. They bathe in blessed mud
said to heal the feeble and lame. Crutches at the door, proof of miracles.
Piñon smoke. Scent of juniper, palo santo, copal.
Remove these stones from my breast, someone prays. Illuminate
the obsidian dagger within my chest. Remove my fear of orbits,
this terror of the swing of pendulums,
the moon’s unceasing tides. Deliver me of the particularities of suns,
the peculiar pull of a pellucid moon clotted inside my throat. Receive
little miracles I have left in your painted hands.
Miriam's Well: Poetry, Land Art, and Beyond 
Miriam, thank you so much for publishing this poem. It’s been decades since I lived in Northern New Mexico but I still recall the stories of pilgrimages to Chimayo and los penitentes. It’s good to find a home for this poems.
Reblogged this on poetry from the frontera and commented:
Miriam’s Well published my poem “Little Miracles”
Pingback: Little Miracles: Poem by Donna Snyder
Thank you for becoming our third guest rainbow. I’ll send the url after I make it. This project is such a happy one. I am so glad you shared!
P.S. we are at the you tube just now, and have not opened the website yet. Very soon!