Lenten Thoughts

Isn't she lovely, "the Mistress"?
With her wide-apart grey-green eyes
The droop of her lips and, when she smiles
Her glance of amused surprise?

How nonchalantly she wears her clothes
How expensive they are as well!
And the sound of her voice is as soft and deep
As the Christ Church tenor bell

But why do I call her "the Mistress"
Who know not her way of life?
Because she has more of a cared-for air
Than many a legal wife

How elegantly she swings along
In the vapoury incense veil;
The angel choir must pause in song
When she kneels at the altar rail

The parson said that we shouldn't stare
Around when we come to church
Or the Unknown God we are seeking
May forever elude our search

But I hope that the preacher will not think
It unorthodox and odd
If I add that I glimpse in "the Mistress"
A hint of the Unknown God