Young Mary

I know not all of that which I contain.
I'm small; I'm young; I fear the pain
All is surprise: I am to be a mother.
That Holy Thing within me and no other
is Heaven's King whose lovely Love will reign.
My pain, his gaining my eternal gain
my fragile body holds Creation's Light;
its smallness shelters God's unbounded might.
The angel came and gave, did not explain.
I know not all of that which I contain.

Poem by Madeleine L'Engle from
The Ordering of Love