“She pondered all these things in her heart” (After Luci Shaw’s “Mary Considers Her Situation”)

The virgin sat,
the angel's words
shimmering around the room.
She fancied now that Daniel
might have shared her trembling heart
when Gabriel had spoken truth which did not fully sooth.
The prophets spoke of shoots from stumps
and virgins bearing Israel's sign,
and yet she'd never heard her name
connected with such wondrous things,
too wonderful for her to bear
and truths too great for words.
She sat, a vessel soon to burst,
the weight of truth not settled yet,
the sword not yet descended.