The pale nuns of St. Joseph are here
in groups, on the island of the just
arrived from having been somewhere else
and will be leaving soon without scars.
There are really four islands here
but the others are simply ignored.
No one has thought to ask why,
not Faustino, his wife, the children
the others, or even these white nuns
not in a Christian place, prison islands
inherited from the lepers who decomposed.
On this particular island the family makes
a living, and this is their punishment.
A burden placed in the hands of Faustino
the poor man who kills.
This place is the physical moment
for which the nuns are Easter lilies.
White is the frayed habits of the young
women who will not be women here.
He is too young, never married
who feels the two pains:
north, he could have no woman...