this easter
i will never forget
i sit in darkness
waiting
for the light i know
to be the Christ
i know this darkness
will be overcome
hope and easter are twin sisters
wandering i remember
other easters
from stunning bonnet sundays
to rain and even snow
when i was grateful for my
multi-buttoned acolyte’s cassock
and warmed my hands in paschal light
i browse the astronomical table
keeping my thoughts and feelings
in the empty tomb
looking for the morning light
the table lists the easter dates
1953 i remember that warm day
a new poplin jacket
my mother’s ford convertible
standing on hartford street
knowing not what lies ahead
only one other easter before that
1942 an unremembered age 4
yet i remember my grandmother
telling me of coming easter birthdays
there it is at 77 and also 88 she said
and God-willing, 99
a strange thing these easter tables
to find the sunday after march 21
the full moon on or after the
spring equinox
(it cannot be earlier than march 23
nor later than the 25th of the following month)
those full moons go on and on
and in between
we live and die, put on new jackets
and touch each other’s lives
often casting good friday shadows
but other times we are the Christ-light
that is sure to follow
the full and hopeful moon
after
the spring equinox.
On this Easter Sunday we celebrate the first birthday of our youngest grandchild, Taylor, who comes visiting us with her parents, Sumi and Scott, from their home in New Jersey.
Taylor, may you always be Christ to others; the Christ in whom you were recently baptized and who, on this day, again brings light to a world in darkness.
i will never forget
i sit in darkness
waiting
for the light i know
to be the Christ
i know this darkness
will be overcome
hope and easter are twin sisters
wandering i remember
other easters
from stunning bonnet sundays
to rain and even snow
when i was grateful for my
multi-buttoned acolyte’s cassock
and warmed my hands in paschal light
i browse the astronomical table
keeping my thoughts and feelings
in the empty tomb
looking for the morning light
the table lists the easter dates
1953 i remember that warm day
a new poplin jacket
my mother’s ford convertible
standing on hartford street
knowing not what lies ahead
only one other easter before that
1942 an unremembered age 4
yet i remember my grandmother
telling me of coming easter birthdays
there it is at 77 and also 88 she said
and God-willing, 99
a strange thing these easter tables
to find the sunday after march 21
the full moon on or after the
spring equinox
(it cannot be earlier than march 23
nor later than the 25th of the following month)
those full moons go on and on
and in between
we live and die, put on new jackets
and touch each other’s lives
often casting good friday shadows
but other times we are the Christ-light
that is sure to follow
the full and hopeful moon
after
the spring equinox.
On this Easter Sunday we celebrate the first birthday of our youngest grandchild, Taylor, who comes visiting us with her parents, Sumi and Scott, from their home in New Jersey.
Taylor, may you always be Christ to others; the Christ in whom you were recently baptized and who, on this day, again brings light to a world in darkness.
