*Of Quiet Houses And Letters Finally Sent

A surprise in morning correspondence, and a reflection on a Wallace Stevens poem

That is my favorite painting of the Ukrainian Catholic artist Ivanka Demchuk. It is of the Annunciation. I have a copy on my wall here at home. What I love about it is the watchfulness of Mary. She senses someone coming. The angel is at the very door, about to enter the grey solidity of her world framed by stone walls, and break through the barrier, bri…