after the portrait of Catherine of Aragon by Michael Sittow

You don’t need to be up close
at the exhibit to see the Magdalene’s clothes
are gorgeous—the rich blue mantle
on her shoulder, and the white linen, pleated,
almost invisible at her wrist. Her eyes,
too, were rendered in this same
fractured light.

*

If you know anything about Mary,
you know she stayed
until the end—which turned out
not to be the end? It’s a bit like
determining whether a woman is
or isn’t a virgin. It depends who
you ask.

*

Ask the Gospel
according to Thomas: Jesus once said that Mary—
like every woman who makes herself
a man—could enter heaven.

*

And why shouldn’t a woman
be worthy? As if her body housed
danger, and not a universe complete
with its own physics. Who knows
whether Mary was sad enough to pretend
God never made a mistake.

*

In the museum, her mad-tinted lips
appear about to part, perhaps as they did the day
she was emptied. See how she holds out
the urn, her finger tipping the lid
askew: Would you like to see my sin—
as though anyone who looks
can choose.