You Tore a Page You tore a page from Job to roll a cigarette And as you tore the flesh of God from Him So from your dying body will be torn your limb You bragged of how you burned away The flesh of God from the body of His name So will those who […]
Sanctuary Stars To all my friends I cannot see I’ll pray for you On bended knee On Christmas morn At stable’s side Where Christ the King Once did abide. Amidst the stench Of creatures low Yet star above Sent down its glow. First Sanctuary light Bold thing A beacon for The hidden King. And when […]
On Christmas Eve On Christmas Eve, I heard from an old neighbor He called to thank me for a Christmas card I’d sent (How touched I was by his gratefulness) This Godfather to my child At 87 years old, talked about how his wife, In the nursing home, still had her wonderful smile We shared old […]
The Nazareth Mines When Rome was Of the world – And Master Moon Was free – And Mistress Midnight Bedizened – In show-star Finery. A tiny sparkle Caught, Miss Mistress Midnight’s Eye – And captured Master Moon, Who paled And gasped a sigh – But Rome, still Of the world, Had doctors observe Ceiling signs […]
Night’s Companion Night is velvet blackness The lady knows that she is but dust and ash. So facing the Son she dresses for night In a borrowed dress of dazzling white She casts a gentle glow upon the earth, She herself hallowed in the night’s mist Faithfully the stars fall in behind her Soldiers at the […]
The Morning of Christmas Eve It is the morn Of Christmas Eve, Scrambled eggs I cook. Advent, Sunday, Fourth and last All fasting now forsook. The birds outside Are singing carols Pitched soprano-high. Above the frost Below the blue, Their midnight moment nigh. Then beasts will speak In whispers low, When Emmanuel did come, How […]
A Christmas Carole My day is ruined and it’s only ten o’clock! The baby screams and screams! Sick, sad eyes overlook His swollen, drippy nose. The red-faced, screaming baby Refuses Babies, his favorite book. He thrashes out of my attempted cuddles Landing on the floor. I pick him up with intentional gentleness and place Place […]
Oh Christmas Tree! December 23rd has come And all my Christmas Shopping’s done. All gifts are hidden, Tucked away, Until the morn of Christmas day. When children wake, Like souls confessed, All light and bright, it’s Christmas Fest! Oh Gloria! We’ll sing and pray And open gifts on that Feast Day. Around the creche We’ll […]
Construction Sunday–Fourth Sunday in Advent The waiting and watching are soon to stop. God calls us to get busy building this Sunday A dwelling for His son. An ark in a tent Is too temporary, unfit unwelcome For Him who will reign over The House of Jacob. Forever requires More than polished cedar or golden […]
Ever Green December twenty-second Three days before The Fest. I sit in coal-black Morning, Waiting for my guest. Examining My conscience, I spy the dinge and dirt The howling wind And icy sleet Intensify the hurt. So out into The dark, I trod in sleety snow, Searching for The evergreen Of hope the Christmas glow. […]
Stainless Steel There is a perception, That Jesus’ conception Is the Feast on December the eighth. But such, is deception, It’s about the reception, Of her soul, stainless steel of the Faith! Hilary M. Flanery
There are times when I dream of a simple life on the prairie with a family, a horse, a dog, a fiddle and a house with a wood-burning stove. And this particular Friday night before Christmas was one of those times. Daughter #2 had an annual Christmas slumber party with some old homeschooling friends, and […]
Morning Star The silver medal which I wear Weighs not more than dragonflies, Or less, perhaps, the wings, a hair, The azure facets of their eyes Heavy weight there is in loss, The Virgin Mary and the Cross, Easy and as light as love Saint Joseph and the Spirit Dove Heavy as the wooden bar, […]
We flew straight from Sweet Briar to London for Kate and Will’s wedding. I’m so glad I saved my garter — it was perfect for her! Speaking of perfect, what a grand excuse to hold Johnny’s 12th birthday at the London Zoo! Camilla graciously offered us her estate for the party but Johnny thought that […]
A Jubilee Year! You asked: Is Jubilee Duggar’s funeral creepy? Perhaps it’s creepy depending on whether or not it’s your fetus. Is holding the hand of your child creepy? The fact that Jubilee had passed on from Time into Eternity, means she’s a Saint. Is holding the hand of a Saint creepy? But: In a […]
Winter Morn A very pale Blue slate-gray, A puff of Powdered cloud. Glassed-limbs crackle Stiff with age Then snap – And boom quite loud. Tree trunks black In shrouds of ice – Branches split And splinter. November sleeps December wakes To the eternal Advent of winter! Hilary M. Flanery
Rejoice Sunday–Third Sunday in Advent In this time of waiting, watching The cold December grays Are decorated with anticipation — Banquets of glad tidings, the earth miraculously Greened from watercourses flowing From the stars. Mary’s sumptuous Magnificat Followed by rounds of Gaudetes on monks’ lips and Priests processing in pink colored vestments. Then comes the […]
Enduring One It can’t be called, but it must come As rain arrives when sleepers sleep And wake to hear the roaring of The river’s flood when it runs deep It can’t be named but it must speak The secret name, the unconfined Until itself reveals itself – The naming of it is not mine […]
First Encounter Mary sat down with utmost care As a burst of joy from her pure heart rose For the Child awoke from his slumbered repose Deep within her womb-kept lair. A tiny kick though a grand affair To the Virgin Mary whom the Father chose As it revealed the presence of her little Rose […]
Can Look at Me Jewel box with cover, Legs, a tail, an eye, Orange, black, discovered Too chilly to be shy Along the trail it blundered Within the darksome night, Gusts of wind and thunders Splendid in their might But turtle in her cabin Of sweet unconscious beauty Calm as any mountain Will never be […]
You know the one. It arrives the day after Thanksgiving. The envelope is double foil lined, the picture of the kids resembles a Gap ad, and the Holiday Letter comes with a warning: Caution! May cause blurred vision, severe feelings of gross inadequacies and nausea. Do not drive motor vehicle or operate heavy machinery while […]
Wounded Healers Welcome into my wounded-ness please rest awhile! Welcome into the hidden, secret spaces sin burrowed in my soul. Welcome into places Satan’s lies have taken root leaching my self worth. Welcome into my wounded-ness, please anoint me with your healing balm! Anoint my feelings of rejection with acceptance and love. Anoint the pain […]
The River of Egypt They build a dam of sandstone blocks – Manganese washed from the rocks Turns the run a bloody brown So that the snakes and minnows drown Ferns, the pool where minnows swim A summer refuge cool and dim Red and sterile now until The engineers have flushed the fill But if […]
Christmas Let the poor have Santa Claus, Let the rich, a cruise, Let the rest have what they want But Jesus, just refuse. Hilary M. Flanery
