At watch,
years creep or rush, or creep and rush!
So compose plot, or rhyme and reason—
say, “In my twenties ..,” or “During that decade …”
But the sole marker of a watch
is daybreak, a curtain’s silent rise
on a plot to be uncovered.
Listen
for deep stillness to voice love’s verbs.
Listen
in long darkness for a leaf stirred,
or twig snapped by a footfall — signal of
a summoning Mercy.
Peer
into gray seasons
for the approaching figure,
a threat or innocent long since welcome —
One who enfolds all hosts and watchers.
WILLIAM R. LEETY is pastor of Overbrook Church, Columbus, Ohio.
