by William R. Leety
At watch, when …
‘a day’ can mean a thousand years
often leads to nine-hundred-and-some years
of false starts, promising beginnings
that prove only a beginning, no more.
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.
