Patron Saint
Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz should be the patron saint of all Catholic lesbians, or at least lesbian nuns.
Many years ago a CCL member wrote an article about Sor Juana for Images, our quarterly newsletter. I plan on writing to her this weekend to ask if we can use it as a starting point for a new section on the CCL web site dedicated to Sor Juana and others.
I found a book of Sor Juana’s love poems on Amazon. Erotic, passionate, some of them frankly sexual, they would have seemed daring 30 years ago. Shge penned them to a viceroy’s wife (and others!) over 300 years ago.
I plan to feature the book of poems for December on The Bookshelf. Here’s a sample:
Love opened a mortal wound.
In agony, I worked the blade
to make it deeper. Please,
I begged, let death come quick.
Wild, distracted, sick,
I counted, counted
all the ways love hurt me.
One life, I thought-a thousand deaths.
Blow after blow, my heart
couldn’t survive this beating.
Then-how can I explain it?-
I came to my senses. I said,
Why do I suffer? What lover
ever had so much pleasure.
