Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Poetry Wednesday

I'm on my way back from Christmas celebration with my mom's family in Tennessee. It's quite an event. At highest count on Saturday night, there were 36 of us. Three had to leave Sunday morning, which left 33 sleeping in two houses. Fortunately, 10 of those were children between 8 months and 11years old, so they didn't take much space.

Thanks to the wonders of modern technology - namely my new iPhone and GoogleDocs - I can share a poem with you this Wednesday after Christmas and before the New Year. (Although it didn't work quite the way I wanted, so I had to fix it after I got home to my laptop.)

Behold I Stand
Gerard Kelly

When the night is deep
With the sense of Christmas
And expectancy hangs heavy
On every breath,
Behold, I stand at the door and knock.

When the floor is knee deep
In discarded wrapping paper
And the new books are open at page one
And the new toys are already broken,
Behold, I stand at the door and knock.

When the family is squashed
Elbow to elbow
Around the table
And the furious rush for food is over
And the only word that can describe the feeling
Is full,
Behold, I stand at the door and knock.

And when Christmas is over
And the television is silent
For the first time in two days
And who sent which card to whom
Is forgotten until next year,
Behold, I stand at the door.

Here are the other selections for Poetry Wednesday.

2 comments:

Beth said...

Oh Michelle, I just saw this and I cannot tell you how timely the words of this poem are for me right now. Thank you for this post and the reminder that in the midst of all the refuse, Christ is in our midst.

Kris Livovich said...

Wow! How did I miss this? I wish, wish I had read it at Christmas! Thank you, anyway.

And Merry Christmas to you!