by Patrice M. Wilson

Lent dawns bright red to gold
mixed with ashes,
dark clouds against rising sun--

but doesn’t this sky-sight 
inspire awe at each glimpse
of God’s truth, sun as brilliant
as it is meant to be
when gray-black clouds drift off?

Adam, God’s first human son,
shone in garden’s pleasure
before that painful eclipse
brought to us by Satan.

Our Lord,  Sun of Justice,
restores light when day’s shadows
cast themselves to earth again.

We cry out for the Son,
who then rises near us
to receive the sacrificial cups
that we freely give to Him.

We know the end of Lent 
in the Son’s most holy life
extended beyond darkness,
more brilliant than all else,
gifts of glory and joy.

So let the days come,
however they may dawn!
We wait for Him to come 
and take our whole selves home
beyond sunrise, sunset
when the happy trumpet blows.

We prepare:
we spend our lives in
and out of Lent. 

Born Catholic in Newark NJ, raised in Catholic schools, Patrice M. Wilson has a PhD in English from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, having earned her MA there and her BA at the University of Maryland, College Park. She was editor of the very fine Hawaii Pacific Review for 16 years while teaching at Hawaii Pacific University. She has three chapbooks of poetry with Finishing Line Press, and one full-length poetry collection with Christian publisher eLectio Publishing. Dr. Wilson recently spent five years in the cloistered Carmelite monastery in Kaneohe, HI. She is now a retired professor living in Mililani, Oahu, HI.