Advent Exhale
Photo by Kourosh Qaffari
A Poem by Elizabeth Wickland
Advent
is the sigh
of an expectant
mother, counting
the days until
her child
comes.
Advent
is the sigh
of an exasperated
people, waiting for all
to be made right.
Thy kingdom
comes.
Advent
is the sigh
of the darkness
stretched thin over light
just before it breaks
and morning
comes.
Advent
is the sigh
that is exhaled
upon the whole world
when the breath
who fills us
comes.
Advent
is the sigh
of relief for all
as newborn lungs fill
and the cry of
the Messiah
comes.
Elizabeth Wickland lives in Bozeman, Montana with her husband, daughter, and two Yorkies. She has a love for words and their stories and has responded to life through poetry and art for as long as she can remember. She also enjoys gardening and cultivating beauty in her small corner of the world, whether in person or online. She writes for The Black Barn Online, and her work has been published in The Unmooring, Calla Press, The Way Back to Ourselves, and The Rabbit Room Poetry Substack, among others. You can find her on Instagram at @punamulta.priory and at elizabethwickland.substack.com.
