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There is a construction paper chain outside the principal’s door, visually counting down to Christmas. I prefer to count up. Advent helps us count up as we light one more candle each week. Every time one more candle is lit, we say a blessing. O Come, O Come Emmanuel. O Come, thou Dayspring. Come and enlighten our hearts. Come and save us.
I discovered a hashtag for an advent word of the day, #adventword. Consider following this hashtag on Twitter for inspiration and meditation each day.
Last year I released a poetry book, Illuminate. This little book is special to me. I wrote poems to accompany my father’s Christmas card drawings. His drawings are done in pen and ink pointillism. Today I share a favorite, The Annunciation. This is one of the last ones I wrote. I was struggling with it, so I visited my parents and interviewed my dad about the drawing. “I conceal lost edges” came from this interview. He talked about his efforts in the drawing to keep it fluid, losing the edge of the wings. This discussion made me contemplate the real/ unreal, the sensed/ the imagined. Advent is a time to conceal lost edges, to imagine something new, light coming from the darkness.
Annunciation by John Gibson
Annunciation
An angel appeared out of the night.
I am not real
I am a dust, a shadow,
a sprinkling of dots on a page,A lonely seraphim
with open arms
at the royal gate.I am crowned
by the moon’s light,
draped in the darkness of forewings.I pray
my message is welcomed.
I conceal lost edges.The sacrament,
this new birth
unveils me, makes me real
as breath.
–Margaret Simon, from Illuminate
Reflections on the Teche 