Advent

1. Prophet’s Candle (Hope)

with roving eyes
a wild-haired raver
cries on the corner
woe to the scroller
of luminous screens
to the bended knee
before the altar of
me me meager offering
of music and words
woe to the land
of the tank and the drone
how long o Lord

touch a coal to the lips
heal the limp in the stride
thief in the night Lord
come we are drowning
in words and the words
of your prophets ring
hollow in hardened hearts
we await the word who was
in the beginning and is
and is to come
Lord come
you are
coming
are you

2. Bethlehem Candle (Peace)

city of david
city of the shepherd
a sling and some stones
a poem and a lyre
a song for a choir
a throne for a king
from a nothing town
small among the clans
stone’s throw
from jerusalem
city of shalom

in those days
in the city of david
a checkpoint
city of divide
and conquer
city of walls
stones thrown
in the west bank
olive trees burning
city of why
must we stop our cars
and be counted
no room in the inn
no end in sight
no sign of shalom
for which our souls long
how we long
how long

3. Shepherd’s Candle (Joy)

soft bleating of sheep
borne from the ag barn
where purple jackets
and john deere hats
spread hay in the stalls
boots caked with muck
the smell
of animal selves
everywhere clinging
like muscle to bone
bodies and their needs
water and feed
a season’s shearing
a stream of urine
steaming in the cold
as on the midway
crowds thin and
lights dim

good God almighty
your creatures
and their constant noise
the cattle lowing
the lamb’s small cries
the roosters’ crowing
dying down to the quiet
of rest of awaiting day
in the back of a pickup
a brother and sister glimpse
just over the metal roof
great light

4. Angel’s Candle (Love)

with held breath
trembling hands
leaden feet
racing hearts
we lift our eyes
messenger of God
you terrify
us in our smallness
with our unclean lips
come to purify
we have waited
so long for your word
we long for your world
to break into ours
night sky cracking like a shell
so light seeps through the seams
no—like something cracking
inside ourselves

so love seeps in
fills us like pitchers
to overflowing
flows from our hands
like blood from a wound
that heals all wounds
o messenger of God
descend like a dove
like a word
like our world
is already yours
like your world
is already here
we wait
we watch
we ache
we are
all ears
do you
hear

Dr. Brent Newsom