Half Way
Half way between the darkness and new light,
Between numb Winter and the thought of Spring,
When joy and sorrow strive on Simeon's brow
It is of a fair maiden that we sing.
Between the wooden manger and the cross
The berry fractures and its poison flows,
Spattering its grief upon a maiden's cloak;
We light a candle to recall her woes.
Between His incarnation and the carnal,
She hovers in the fire, humanbright;
Not probing in the dark of Winter gloom
But blackening the cross with Easter light.