The following two poems are companion poems based on the angels visit to Mary and Joseph’s response.  These are offered at the beginning of the Advent journey for spiritual pilgrims who are preparing for the “birth” as Mary and Joseph had to prepare.

Beyond Impossible

(the angel visits Mary-

a poem for Advent)

This whisper fills the

emptiness I feel

You say to me that

soon

I will be full

of life

But your words are

beyond impossible-

My Joseph has yet

to touch me

and your words while

filling me

will leave him

empty

Can I bear this news

you share that seems

so good

yet is full of risk

and the stares

that are soon

to come?

If I say “yes” to the

hope you offer

my life will be full

of the “no’s” of others

who will believe

that all of this is

beyond impossible

Yet your invitation is from

that “beyond”

where the impossible is birthed

So let it be

And I shall hope

that at least

my Joseph

will believe

It Can’t Be

(Joseph reflects on Mary’s news about a

coming child)

She was mine upon the asking-

purchased with love

But now she has been

taken from me

by some mystical

whisper from

beyond

It can’t be, for I have

longed to hold her

all the years

of my loneliness

Now my loss is full of

empty promises

broken like

the covenant I made

but days ago

I could have her banished

or worse

but then came the

angel-like dream

that left me

drained of doubt

and filled with

hope

So I will be a husband

and some kind

of adopted father

I will hold her

in the midst of

all the stares of

those who

think it is

beyond impossible

O God, who must have

done this,

you will need to give me

what I do not possess

Lift me beyond the words,

“It can’t be”

to those that

proclaim,

“Let it be”