Morning after the longest night,
like the first day of creation
when evening fell before the dawn;
as the dream goes before awakening,
the linened tomb before resurrection,
the twilight womb before the birth
of the Christ, all part
and particular to his Incarnation,
this nurturing dark that precedes
the light of the first new day.
Rosalind C Hughes is Rector of the Church of the Epiphany, Euclid, Ohio, and author of A Family Like Mine: Biblical Stories of Love, Loss, and Longing; and Whom Shall I Fear? Urgent Questions for Christians in an Age of Violence. This poem and others can also be found at rosalindhughes.com