This Tender Waiting

Said the quiet man
to the predawn sky:
Listen to what I say.
The constant this Advent
has been tears in my eyes.
I heard Andy Williams
(God rest his soul) singing
The Village of St. Bernadette
and you’d of thought my
dog died. Then I saw the little
black-eyed boy at church,
the one freshly adopted,
who couldn’t stand still
during the musical number
the children’s leaders
(God love ’em) had worked
on so hard because he kept
looking into the crowd 
smiling and waving and
shouting Mommy, Mommy!
And then pausing as that
father of an Arapahoe Warrior
counted his supreme blessing
this yuletide – hearing his
cell phone ring out with good
tidings in the wake of the terror
with his son’s voice saying
Dad, I’m okay (thank God).
Oh sweet God’n’Jesus, I think
I’m losing it this Advent.
Or maybe its finally gone,
that reining in of the man I am
who shivers in the cold, a
diviner of the songs and smiles
and sighs of this tender waiting.
 
Leo_18
 

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 1,327 other subscribers

4 Comments

  1. Gwen Acres on December 18, 2013 at 7:05 pm

    The heartfelt gifts that touch our tears…

  2. R W on December 19, 2013 at 5:32 am

    I think

    I’m losing it this Advent.

    Or maybe its finally gone,

    that reining in

    Right? thanks 🙂

  3. patriciaspreng on December 19, 2013 at 5:50 am

    those tears are never void. without them… the waiting would be so dull. Thanks John. Merry Christmas to you and your family from Michigan.

  4. Susan Irene Fox on December 19, 2013 at 10:26 pm

    Always touching, always tugging at my heart. Bless you.

Leave a Reply Cancel Reply