Part I Princess Diana

To think of Diana
Princess/mother/woman
is to remember a giselle
who loved to dance
past the "ought-to's"
beyond the call
fulfilling her own sense
of noblesse oblige
on her terms
designing her own
walkabout
after losing her titles
regal, matrimonial
she refused to sacrifice
her heart's conviction
her commitment to
her Wales, England, world,
principles and causes
pursuit of her ideals
even while pursued

She carried on with her goals
that served others
over self;
she didn't have to;
like any of us
or those in such position
she had the option
to turn her eyes away
denying her touch to
aids patients, the elderly, and ill children
her resolve to go after
the land mines dilemma
her public voice
for the causes that she?d married
beyond the man
and kept
before and after
She didn't have to...

And now, those blind
but exploitive with their blinding lights
on one human
who was, yet, not perfect,
yet so bright,
have helped sweep her away
why did they have to?
~ ~ ~
Part II Mother Teresa

Her God within
spoke to this nun
during her own personal struggles,
summoned her bravery
to assume an onerous mandate
carry her small self
into the Third World
devote the balance of her earthly life
in dedication to the poor, the sick, the lost,

we cannot know all she endured
but we know
she didn't have to

Mother, Teresa
(future Saint?)
seemed to see no choice
but to look to the dirty corners
where others turned away
and open up our focus
to the necessary viewing
where she made her magnetic steps
fueled by the role
she heard as a calling
seeing her Lord
in every one of them

Remember her in the media pictures?
Teresa, in the crowds of the desperate
smiling steadily
with her eyes;
kindness defined there,

anchor of hope.

When I think of Mother Teresa
I think of the grueling tasks
she assumed because she believed.
she had to

~ ~ ~

Princess and Nun ( Conclusion)

There walked two women
photographed together once one tall, one petite
their size immeasurable
as their smiles
across the pages of our lives
our books, our magazines
our souls

Then gone the same week from us

Gone from the spaces
of our saddest secrets
no longer hushed since
they spoke out; shone the
spotlight for us all

They didn't have to
what if they
had not?


(Editor's note: While Mother Teresa is unquestionably a saint; God and others centered; Princess Diana was a celebrity who took on some causes. No personal morality there. The contrast is clear! One gave in devotion to God the other as part of her public persona. God is the final judge.)