First Wednesday of Advent

Read 1st Thessalonians 2:13-20

in the morning
(practically the first thing),
    i lift my invocation
        to you,
    praying my psalm of
                protest
        over my aging body
            the antiphon echoing
                    the stiffness of
                my joints;

five times a day (or more)
my voice is lifted to you,
    sometimes speaking those
        words of weariness and
                    frustration
            over the struggles of
                my life,
    all too often
    simply whispering the aches
                    in my heart
        of those people who
            fray my nerves;

at compline in the evening,
before i slip under the covers
    cuddling up next to my
    all too fitful companion, sleep,
        my examen of the day
        brings up all those fractured
                    feelings,
            all those moments when
                time seemed to be
                avoiding me.

yet,
    gratitude continues to
    wait,
        patiently sitting in
        the corner,
hoping (and probably
    praying constantly!)
        that I will pick her up
tomorrow
        and carry her with me
    the rest of my life.

© 2010  Thom M. Shuman