"I open every door..."

"Not knowing
when the
dawn will come,
I open
every door."


- E. Dickinson


the
angels come
in dark of night
as much as
light of day

and I am waiting
in the silence
ready as
a child on
Christmas eve

no door is closed
upon their entry

if they comes as tender touch
I will welcome them
with open arms

I will listen with my
fingertips and
ask questions with my
lips

Should they steal through
the door of
this solstice feast --
harvest table piled high with
gifts sweet and savory 

as cook or servant,

I will taste and see
see that the Lord,
He is God...

I will savor each bite
keening for the message of
a grace so tenderly
placed by humble
hands that
paint in
scents and flavors
images too beautiful for
words

I will fling wide the doors of
song and wait to
see notes floating
along a sugar plum path where
satin slippers
dance out
the unmeasured
prayers of
a thousand tears
in arabesques
under a canopy of
breath-taking
beauty

all doors are
open to
the dawning of
a new
nativity

my heart is Your manger
I am
waiting
for shepherd
and kings,
doves
and lambs,
a meek man and
his brave
girl,
a babe and
a star

i will not
sleep
on nights such as
this

when angels
sing,
and cook,
and dance,
and
feed us
with
the breath
of
heaven

that 
sounds like 
an infant's
sigh


"let every
heart
prepare him room..."
~ I. Watts