Sanctification: A Sonnet

Sanctification: A Sonnet

Ryanne J. M. Molinari

The ‘wounded surgeon’ works while I’m awake
And only by compassion does not break
The heart which beat so steady yet so dead
While severed from the life of him, the Head.

The subject upon which his scalpel strikes
Is the awful altar of my blood-bought life
Which, once decked with sentimental blooms
Has become the gory operating room.

’Tis simpler, swifter to submit to die
Than every moment on him to rely.
Most readily I’d give myself in death—
Easier my final than my ev’ry breath.

But upon Thy table, I know myself to be
Ever the thorn-struck patient unto Thee.

*The “wounded surgeon” references T.S. Eliot’s “East Coker.”

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Ryanne J. M. Molinari
Writer & Musician

Ryanne has been published in various journals and magazines, including The Journal of the T.S. Eliot Society, Transpositions, Deus ex Musica, SPLENDEUR, and Agape Review. She is a professional pianist/organist and earned her master’s degree in “Theology and the Arts” from the University of St. Andrew’s. You can read more of her work at ABookishCharm.com

Photography by Klim Musalimov