The Annunciation

We see so little, stayed on surfaces, We calculate the outsides of things,

Preoccupied with our own purposes, We miss the shimmer of the angel’s wings.

They coruscate around us in their joy,

A swirl of wheels and eyes and wings unfurled; They guard the good we purpose to destroy, A hidden blaze of glory in God’s world. But on this day a young girl stopped to see With open eyes and heart. She heard the voice – The promise of his glory yet to be

As time stood still for her to make a choice. Gabriel knelt and not a feather stirred. The Word himself was waiting on her word.

- From Sounding the Seasons by Malcolm Guite