Advent

You put out candles

to mark the advent,

You set your watch

like shepherds

for the long hours of the night

You pray, you sing,

You pause. You’ve done

everything you can.

And then Christ comes,

even before the rolling earth

embraces dawn,

before the final shiver

of the last watch,

before the time you steeled yourself

to wait

Christ comes

now as ever,

singular yet constant

glorious light —

when you most need it,

what you most longed for,

invoking your grateful surprise,

joy to your heart and your eyes.

©Wendy Mulhern

December 20, 2014

photo by Heather Mulhern