i saw saint mary 
in starbucks

i saw saint mary 
in starbucks--
she was leaned over 
the counter--
perched on a 
wooden stool
legs crossed beneath
her blue robe--
she looked up out
the big front windows
it was a cloudy october
afternoon full
of computer screen glow--
at the table next to her
a woman in a bright red dress
was interviewing 
to do marketing for a start-up
& on her other side was
of course-- me
scrolling on my phone
& pretending not
to notice the virgin mary sitting 
next to me--
she sipped her pumpkin spice
latte--
stuck her finger 
in the whipped topping
& licked off 
the fluffy cream
& drizzled caramel
syrup--
resting her head in
her hand, she scrolled
through her phone--
our saints have recently
gone digital after 
some encouragement
from the higher ups
jesus said it would
be good for them 
to get more in touch
with the people again--
she now receives prayers 
by text message 
vibrate
vibrate
vibrate 
their words blurring
across
her screen she openned
each prayer one by one
by one
& the phone just kept
vibrating
she set it down on the
counter &
it continued 
to vibrate
vibrate 
vibrate 
i took out a pen from
my backpack &
scribbled on
the back of a brown paper
napkin 
"Hail Mary full of grace..."
i slide it to her shyly--
she peered up 
at me without a word
& smiled like 
the statue we have of
her sitting in the Nativity--
picking up the note
she grinned wider
& mouthed
"Thank you"
she picked her phone
off the counter &
opened tinder 
to amuse herself
between answering 
prayers
over the rim of my
coffee
i eyed her swiping 
right on some 
girls from 
Bryn Mawr college--
hair long & wearing 
instagram filters--
i opened my own 
tinder to see
if i could find her profile
& there she was--
saint Mary-- the
same image as 
on the prayer card in
my wallet

on the way home i 
wondered if she had
remembered me or anything
i had prayed for or if 
she just got
to know human in brief
snippets
of their pleas-- their
wants-- their desires--
i wondered if sometimes
she would just like to hear a 
message-- a simple hello
& a smiley-face emoji 
of some sort
so that she knows
that we don't just want
her for the influence of her
son--
i pulled over on the 
side of
the road 
opened my own phone 
& texted my mom
to tell her that
i love her because
i don't tell anyone
that enough--
i sip 
the last of my
black coffee
& i pray to saint
Mary & tell her that 
i'm sorry that 
her phone is full of
so many prayers
& that i'm sorry they
never stop coming even
when half the world
sleeps--
my phone vibrated &
an unknown number
had sent me a little
star emoji
i sent her back 
"Hail Mary full of grace..."