(Based on Luke 2:36-38)

I stand, Lord, keeping eager watch
as Anna did in distant times before me,
filling the full measure of her years
secluded in the temple
in adoring expectation.

Now I am heir to her post,
a sentinel 
still waiting through the long darkness
for the dawn of your return.

All my longing is for you, O Lord,
as I stand poised on tiptoe,
straining with my whole being
to catch that first glimpse of you.

Shatter the darkness
(oft times threatening to close in and surround us)
with that fierce and burning brightness
of your splendor and your beauty.

Then I shall follow Anna’s suit
and raise my voice to you in glad thanks 

and tell of your redemption
to all who’ve yearned so long for you.

This poem was first published in 2006 © by Jeanne Kun, and is included in a book of collected poems, Gladly Given to God, 2021 © by Jeanne Kun.
Used with permission of author.

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• See also Journey by Starlight, and The Word Made Flesh, poems by Jeanne Kun

Top image credit: Photo of woman at prayer in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem, © by Don Schwager, taken in 2001.