I like the condition of mystery that is at the heart of poetry.

Luisa, yes! Me too. This is, I think, why poetry and theology are such a natural match (for me, anyway -- mileage obviously varies.) My understanding of the numinous is all about mystery. And the same goes for good poetry. Even poetry which is ostensibly simple hints at something deeper.

I love this poem: the way the repeated form of the question takes on so many different nuances and valances as you move through the couplets. The first two lines are especially poignant to me now, enmeshed as I am in a New England winter...