Vigil's End

(for my mother)

It was in the darkest
hours of the night
that they came
to take your body.
And though we huddled
in another room
and closed the door
between us,
I still could hear
the rolling of the
gurney wheels
that carried you away,
and all I longed to do
was rush to you and cry,
Rise up! Rise up!
And be alive again!

They huddled
in the darkness also,
those faithful Marys,
grieving and waiting
to do what small
service to the dead
they could offer,
only to find
the tomb laid open
and a message
they never even
thought to hope for
though it is all
of our hope now—
He is risen!
He is risen!
He is alive again!