0

Poem: “Rejoice Sunday–Third Sunday in Advent”

by on Dec 17, 2011 in Poetry
Print This Article

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 Baptizer from the wilderness
With his unshaven voice and
Straight words about repentance
Not rejoicing. That joy cannot be fulfilled yet
This Third Sunday of Advent. All we can do is testify
To the light that is coming in the fullness of time
Which, it seems, drags on and on impatiently shadowed.

One more lonely candle longs to be ransomed on the wreathe.

Philip C.Kolin
December 13, 2011


Philip C. Kolin, Professor of English at the University of Southern Mississippi, has published four books of poems, including Deep Wonder: Poems (Grey Owl Press, 2000) and, most recently, A Parable of Women: Poems (Yazoo River Press, 2009). More than 200 of his poems have appeared in or are forthcoming in such journals as Christian Century, America, St. Austin Review, Christianity and Literature, Michigan Quarterly Review, Windhover, Seminary Ridge Review, Louisiana Literature, Blue Collar Review, St. Anthony Messenger, South Carolina  Review, etc. Kolin is also the founding editor of Vineyards: A Journal of Christian Poetry (www.vineyardspoetry.com) .  He was educated by the Jesuits and the Dominicans and considers St. Joseph his patron.