Psalm 123—A Song for Anna

"Already I know my life lifts toward the sunless city.

And now for Psalm 123 and a poem for Anna.

Rendition of Psalm 123

I raise my eyes and see you, Lord,
Who dwells in the heavens and who is also here.
As the eyes of servants follow
The hands of their masters,
And the maid the movements of her mistress,
So these eyes watch for you
Until your mercy visits us.

Give me grace after grace, Lord,
For these hands have held their portion
Of scorn and more. I know the cold
Contempt of those at ease
And the easy way the proud
Deride the ones who wait for you.

Notes on the Poem

This poem is about waiting and is rooted in the story of Anna the prophetess in Luke 2.

Anna was an 84-year-old widow who “did not depart from the temple” day or night but prayed and fasted and waited for the Messiah. She appears briefly in the Gospel of Luke when Mary and Joseph take the infant Jesus to the temple. She is one of the two people who recognize him for what he is.

The other person who recognizes baby Jesus as the Messiah is a man named Simeon. In addition to being in dialogue with Psalm 123 and Luke 2, this poem is also in dialogue with the poem that T. S. Eliot wrote about Simeon called “A Song for Simeon.” If you read all four works together, you’ll see flashes of meaning spark between them.

I usually invite readers to suggest titles for these poems, but I think the title for this one should point to Eliot’s poem so I am titling it “A Song for Anna.”

Poem for Psalm 123—A Song for Anna

Luke 2:37 “She did not depart from the temple worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day…” 

I.

Lord, I sleep in and out of days now.
I smell lilac and holy smoke.
The stone is smooth with feet
And cold on my old cheek.
I am known here as a curiosity.
People come with bleating sheep leaving their droppings,
And hawkers crying with birds,
And liars lying and coins clattering on tables.
They send boys with bits of bread
To move me out of the way.

I wonder if any of us should be here.

At night, there is the silence
And the long longing. My God
I tarry here for you! I mourn
For Jerusalem to any who will listen. I pray
For all of this to be overthrown,
And for the things that needed more than time.
Have mercy on us.
Do not forget this one who has seen
A thousand Winters who knows the waiting
As though it were her own name.

II.

When the boy came I knew him
At a glance. I pressed my face to the stone
And cried. Lord, you have been kind to Anna. 
I asked to hold him. These lips touched 
The burning coal and felt the firekiss.
Things were limned in light
And I promised myself to it.
Already I know my life
Lifts toward the sunless city 
But what I feel is the warmth on my face.

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Psalms: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 31, 32, 34, 35, 38, 39, 40, 42, 43, 46, 50, 51, 53, 54, 62, 63, 65, 66, 73, 74, 75, 84, 86, 88, 90, 91, 100, 107, 110, 114, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 137, 139, 140, 142, 147, 148.

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