…he hath made me to dwell in darkness, as those that have been long dead.(Psalm 143:3 KJV) One Christmas,my brother and I sleeping onfold-out beds in our grandparents’ living room,I found myself awakewell past the usual hour, andmy thoughts like the room plungedin obsessive black, savefor a red electric glow from someunidentified source, I knewContinue reading “Advent 23: In Darkness”
Tag Archives: night
Advent 22: Remember your last end
But for now, in what passes as daylight, remember night: remember those who dwell in night, remember the night that lies before those who fail to remember the light. Remember the absence of memory or light, remember the path out of darkness tonight.
Second Candle: Advent is Slowing
One candle grows short, a second descends, And three others wait for the rising of light. Wicks burn down and dwindle, yet hope still appends The longing of prayers in the slow Advent night. In the day, though the shouting of sun may shut out The lamenting of captives, yet watch in the night, ForContinue reading “Second Candle: Advent is Slowing”
First Candle: Advent is Waiting
Advent is not simply Christmas extended: Calendar flaps decked with chocolate each day; Shops tinsel-lined as though God intended The season to dazzle our wallets away. Advent is not for the first-fruits of commerce, Nor is it for month-long pre-parties and drinks, And not for fluoro-lit reindeers dispersed In gardens, despite what the suburbs mayContinue reading “First Candle: Advent is Waiting”
Nocturne
Dance the night amidst the mist and hover cloud above the earth; sing the streets in silent vigil, sleep the world aright. Water soil, the dew of nighttime, watch the sleeping grasses grow; let the nocturne song surround you as you come and go. Rain falls on the just and unjust; nighttime fallsContinue reading “Nocturne”
Last Light: For the Winter Solstice
On the shortest day, I walked down to the garden where, stretched out across the grass, the out-turned fingers of peace received theContinue reading “Last Light: For the Winter Solstice”
Number Nine
Carlton kept in darkness slept, The streetlights out, the roadside swept With rain that afternoon and feet Bewildered by the night. The city never sleeps, they say, And anxious souls in search of day Pit-pattered while inside the homes Smart-phones took place of light. Commerce halted, leisure paused,Continue reading “Number Nine”
Bursting Dimensions
If you really believe, then the day and the dull of its light won’t confine the dimensions of sight; you may look through the night and see there the promise of Life. Do you really believe? On your way through the frontiers of darkness and time, you may feel all your might leak out intoContinue reading “Bursting Dimensions”
Nocturne
Give – at the bending of the knee, at the turning-down of the sheets, at the folding of the hands in sleep – give, receive and rest. Give the day: its unresolved agonies, its fragments, its drafts and all the things we’d best forget. Give, and let it sleep. Receive: theContinue reading “Nocturne”
Nonnet for Vespers
At the going-down and the slowing, Taper me, Lord, but lose me not To the fading of the light. Within silence let me, O God, entrust all My daytime sight To render You, Lord, more Bright. Sergei Rachmaninoff, “Vespers: Now let thy servant depart”
The Consolations of Writing 