First Love and Other Paintings

"As the sunbeam through the glass, Passeth but not breaketh, So the Virgin, as she was, Virgin still remaineth."

I love her and I will probably never meet her. I want to tell you what I can about her. The painting shows a pot of lillies resting upon a table. The candle on the table has gone out, emitting a wisp of smoke, at the approach of the angel; physical illumination reduced to nothingness by the appearance of Light Divine. It was while the Virgin was working the purple wool that she was appraoched by the youth of indescribable beauty saying "Do not be afraid, Mary, thou has found Grace before God."   The painting rests against a concrete wall in a basement behind a square brown box which is filled with framed photographs. In one photograph