After a Wedding br br br After the wedding when the happy couple br stood on the old church steps to have their br picture taken and a throng of people where br jousting to be in the frame too, I walked br around in the church and found in a corner br a white but dusty marble Virgin Mary. br br Her eyes were demurely downcast: I said: br “We’re alone you can open your eyes now.” br Was it just my imagination, caused by my br longing to believe, that I saw an eyelid flutter br and a half smile play upon cold, dusty lips? br ….Pale as limestone I rejoined the throng.