memorial for a brilliant woman

Monday, December 01, 2008

an advent poem

In the Episcopal Church, we celebrate the season of Advent during the month before Christmas. No carols in services until the 24th (some parishes won't even have a pageant until then) and our focus is encouraged to be on the waiting- I always get a little annoyed at the bombarding I must endure from the world- and how we sing carols through January when everyone else is sick of them- until I thought of the births of my own children- how I prepared joyfully, hopefully, with fear. So to close my poem-a-day challenge from Writers Digest, I offer this as my last poem in November.


Change

I used to hate December- the noise,
the expense, the false good cheer-
until I thought about having a baby-
decorating the nursery, humming
soft lullabies to my swelling belly,
going to showers, buying special toys;
how in the month before I counted
days, awake with anticipation, my
own advent vigil for a miracle child
who would save me from sadness,.
give me the opportunity to do what
my parent’s couldn’t- raise a child
in love with life, self assured, strong
enough to take on the world, for me.

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