The Annunciation

a painting, a response (of mine)

“The angel Gabriel was sent from God
to a town of Galilee called Nazareth,
to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph,
of the house of David,
and the virgin’s name was Mary.”

The Annunciation by Henry Ossawa Tanner

Resting, eyes closed, ready to fall asleep, 

some tether pulled me away from dreams

toward wakefulness. I sat, bare feet cold, 

and waited in the silence.

A stirring, warmth, 

and in the dark shroud of midnight, a light 

I’d never seen before, one charged with the sun. 

I bowed my head, felt fear’s fullness upon me. 

Again that tether,

lifting me, my head, my eyes, up, up 

to that strange and holy light. 

The angel spoke, 

you will be the mother of the Lord. But how

shall this be since I know not man?

The power of the Most High

will overshadow you. 

All about me stilled,

became wondrous to my eyes: the bread plate

shimmered on the shelf, the two jugs quaked

as if full to overflowing, color became sacred,

and even I, 

my very body, began to fill, to overflow, bestowed

with that strange and holy light.