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When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem. . ..” (Luke 2:15)

What proximate apocalypse arrives tomorrow?

Lost key lost love cancer butterfly extinction

blood on the floor of sanctuary schoolhouse—

must we endure yet more of heaven’s plan?

Do you dare to raise your eyes, peek between

the stars to see the angels turn for home

after they have ransacked all your dreams?

After the dream comes the dark.

“Be not afraid”: why do the blessèd say this

when the only reasonable response is fear

or maybe flight if you can make your feet work?

Are you not supposed to fear the beast?

When you meet a bear—or host of angels—

with your back against the wall, will you stand

your ground before the feral claws of glory?

After the glory comes the dark.

Do you yearn to leave the sheep and wander

into town to search for manger mother

child aglow with heaven’s subtle light;

leave the eastern palaces to track a star,

offer homage at the hard world’s fraying edge;

leave the boats and nets and trail a migrant

preacher pinned like a butterfly to a cross?

After the cross comes the dark.

And who knows what might happen in the dark?

* “Adventus” is a Latin word meaning, “arrival” or “coming.” It is the word from which English draws the term, “Advent.” Christians use the latter term to describe their expectant hope for the arrival of God’s kingdom. These days, the news of the kingdom’s coming raises more questions than it answers.