Waiting

In this poem, I imagined Mary; peaceful, pregnant, and pondering the star announcing the birth of the divine child. The first stanza describes Mary enveloped in her mystical intimacy with God. Surely, there has never been a greater mystical union between God and man than that between Mary and her son.

In the second verse, the poem shifts to our collective difficulties as we “sit in darkness and death’s shadow.” (Luke 1:79) The remedy for which is Mary’s son.

Advent is our waiting for Mary to bring us her son.

“Resting in the dark sweet soft night,
Sheltering You.
All the candles ever lit in prayer
Flicker in this vast presence within.
The star hides behind a cloud, then reappears.
Your heart beating beneath mine:
Steps in Your journey into this world that’s waiting
For the dawn to rise into the sky.

Mother, we who struck each match for each candle,
Sit in shared darkness,
Waiting and pleading.
Come now, come softly,
Bring your son for us to hold in our arms.”

*Editor’s Note: This poem earned an Honorable Mention in Catholic Literary Arts’ 2023 Marian Advent Prayer Contest.

© Thomas Medlar 2023