7:00 AM

Like the askari who waits for the relief of morning light

I have watched for you, Lord eager for your face

I looked for you when the shots rang out and the crowd dispersed

But you weren’t there that I could see

I sought you when death wore a mask and all the world cringed away from his cruel smile

But you weren’t in the pandemic

I strained to see you among the begging mothers, the strung out street boys and those constantly dying from poverty, from bombs, and from my own inaction

But I didn’t see you in the streets

But

I did hear a whisper

A gentle, hushed murmuring

Like the song a mother coos

As she rocks her suckled child back to sleep

And there you were

In the aftermath of it all

Where you have always been

Holding each of us who are broken

I heard your whispered love

All through the night

And here in the light

Of this becoming day

I see that you were there

That you walk with us

From garden to grave

Even now

I hear your hushed song

Calling me into the day

And into the streets

I have watched for you all through the night

And now I see you here on the side of the road

In the children who walk to school

In the mother who watches lovingly over them

I see you in each smile

Each step, each greeting

Each labor of this infant day

As I look upon your images

Striding into these streets

I am reminded

That you are pleased to dwell

Amid the fellowship of us