“Advent Fruits and Flowers.”

I wanted to write this to shake off the cynicism of the current season…and (to my surprise) Paul of Tarsus came to my aid. After that…it sort of wrote itself. I hope you enjoy this. 🙂

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Advent Fruits and Flowers

Sometimes my mind lies fallow, frail, and sere.

I’ve watched too many gangster movies now

To welcome Wisdom with her stern replies,

To calmly greet the angel with his wings,

To doff my sandals in some desert heat…

And yet, the wilderness still makes its way.

The snare drum of the bleak December rain

Still beats its rapid tattoo in my heart,

Still nourishes the loam within my soul

To sprout its hardy and resistant fruits,

Fruits that belie the coming winter’s snow.

I name each growing fruit within my soul:

A halting love that seeks the good of all,

A joy as vivid as a Fender bass,

A peace that blooms in solidarity,

A patience that can wrestle angels and

That knows the faltering of fragile hips,

A goodness that will pay its loving debts,

A kindness that may call at 1 AM

Although your children sleep and you’ve no bread,

A faithfulness that will not turn away,

A gentleness that sometimes says too much,

A discipline that does the dishes and

Will help you stack the heavy wooden chairs.

These hearty fruits survive the bitter chill

Of stiff indifference in Toronto’s streets,

The bland denials of old demagogues,

The economic “truths” as hard as frost,

As stern and biting as the freezing rain.

They blossom in my heart with every flag

That flies for Gaza’s children, and for Homs’;

They flower in the Ottawa food banks;

They twine around the burnished glass and steel

Of Rideau, and the curves of Sandy Hill.

They may be buried in the winter snow,

But may rejoice in solemn springtime, if

The seeds of ceasefire flood the streets with hues

Of Advent green and deep poinsettia red;

Eurasian elks may lie with bears in Kyiv,

And stern Egyptian cobras may not strike

Their errant prey in verdant old Khartoum.

Creator’s mountain will be sacrosanct,

And no one will do harm or desecrate

The ancient stones erected in our minds,

The stones beneath which vivid flowers grow.