The Advent Cycle

The Advent Cycle

Mike Bonikowsky

Advent I: Hope

So we come to end of year
Hungry, weary, and sore
Full of fear and full of holes 
But empty otherwise. 

So we lift our empty hands 
Unto a silent night
And together wait to take
Whatever you will give us.

Advent II: Peace

“Lord, grant us your peace,” we say.
He answers, “Are you sure?”
We nod, certain that we know
The meaning of the word.

The peace he gives is labour,
Sore feet and aching back,
And a sword to pierce your heart.
His peace he leaves to us

To birth: Peace that is trouble,
As a baby is. Sent
To wake us from violent dreams
And trouble us to peace.

Advent III: Joy

Something quickens
In the heart of all that is
Something kicks
In the belly of the girl.

There is joy in that kicking
There is joy in the birth
There is joy in the desert crying
That he is here, he has come

To raise up the lowly
And turn the rich away
To fill the hungry with good things
And to kick for joy.

To kick down every door that stands
Between him and his children
From the curtain in the temple
To the gates of death and hell.

Advent IV: Faith

The shadow of death
Is long across the land,
And the night comes early
This time of the year.

We have tried to be the light,
But the matches burnt our fingers.
We have made every sacrifice,
But still the solstice came.

So come and sit with me,
In the shadow of death
And let’s tell it to the dark:
Who was, and is, and is to come.

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Mike Bonikowsky
Poet & Personal Support Worker

Photography by Eberhard Grossgasteiger