Easter poem

dying
the first day

at nightfall
glower and glimmer of the stars
falling down and
going out


darkness
the second day

in the chamber
behind the stone
the dark
speaks in its own tongues
syllables of silence of
gravity

in the garden the women
sit all day all night all day
as women do keeping
vigil keening
to the chill wind's
madness


rising
the third day

the earth turns
brings back the hush
of dawn –
and birdsong the
olive trees' whispers
sweet low voices of women

the first prayer a tongue
of light the utterance
of the one
Word



© Roselle Angwin