Notre-Dame de la Garde
the good mother
stands upon a fort
and fortress still
a quiet faith
overlooking the sea
and guiding sailors back to
heart and hearth
Stella Maris, the star of the sea
or
Hodegetria, she who shows the way
strong and built upon stone
and the countless before
in prayers
then and now
the highest point
to exhale goodly desires
like incense toward
the Heavens
Deipara, Dei Genitrix, the god-bearer
Tehotokos
Sancta, sancta, purissma, immaculata
Rise and ascend
something larger
beats below the tenuous
strings of the universe
it is not us
surely
https://www.atlasobscura.com/things-to-do/france/relics-and-reliquaries