These poems are tied to a particular season of the Church’s year.

See also: Poetry for Passiontide

Easter by Catherine James

You went out to the Hill
early

into the deep darkness,
as men came in through the gates
and women walked to the wells,
as dawn painted the rooftops gold.
You were led away so early,
to be lifted high between earth and heaven
through the long hours of the lengthened day.

And the Spring world paused –
the sky black –
night and day reversed,
when eternity entered our history
and our forgiveness won.

You came early
to walk among the shadows
of the April garden,
as first light slanted through the trees,
waiting in the quietness,
to quicken the silence
into sound and life.

You come to us early –
before the morning wakes
before the first song,
to be there already,
to be there
through every hour
of the long
and lengthening day.