Since 1990, I have composed a new poem for each calendar. You will find all of those poems on this page, interspersed with illustrations from the 2010 calendar. All of the poems have been distributed freely with the calendar. However, they are copyrighted, and I ask that you request permission if you would like to reproduce them for other purposes.
Tom Mousin
ADVENT 2023
For only the second time since I first began composing poems, I have used a poem from a previous year – 2019 – for this year’s calendar. Given the recent tragic events in Israel/Palestine, and the shootings in Lewiston, Maine, much closer to home, I recalled the words of this earlier poem. Though Isaiah’s prophecy (ch. 2:1-5) is not a part of the lectionary readings for this Advent, his proclamation feels appropriate for this time.
By Advent’s light we hope to see
a new and better way
And then Isaiah’s voice proclaims
the coming promised day.
This world, in which the sword and spear
the rifle and the gun
Hold sway as idols of our fears
will one day be undone.
When all the weapons of our hates
will surely be recast
As tools to plow and plant the soil
where peace will reign at last.
A distant dream, yet we will dare
By Advent’s light to forge
With Christ, new hands and hearts with which
to study war no more.
ADVENT 2022
The starry splendors of the night
reveal creation’s birthing light
When God firs cleaved the night from day
and formed us from the earthen clay.
Though wounded by our thoughtless care,
creation, burdened, yet will share
God light of hope and healing power
through those who heed the call this hour:
To bear that light which burns within
of Christ, whose birth we greet again
And whose return we help prepare
with ev’ry loving gesture shared.
Through tender care that heals the earth,
we praise the One who gave it birth
So may our lives, like stars above
bear witness to the Maker’s love.
ADVENT 2021
Take winter greens and form a wreath,
with candles set to light.
Then listen to the prophets’ words
however long the night.
Come, sing with them their songs of hope,
the coming of God’s reign.
And with them dare to listen for
a mother’s birthing pain.
For not by power or by might
shall come the Promised Day,
But rather from a helpless child
upon a bed of hay.
So listen for the sound of love,
as Word enfleshed becomes,
Our Way and Truth, our song to sing
so that God’s will is done.
ADVENT 2020
With ev’ry passing day
as sunlight disappears
The dusk descends and prayers ascend
for strength to calm our fears.
Uncertain is this time
when rancor seems to reign;
And illness leaves within its wake
such sadness, grief, and pain.
Yet soon a star will shine.
Look up! Keep watch and wait.
Then hear within a newborn’s cry
the love that conquers hate.
That love, whose light becomes
the dawn of God’s new day
When peace and justice will prevail
and sorrows flee away.
ADVENT 2019
By Advent’s light we strain to see
a new and better way
And then Isaiah’s voice proclaims
the coming promised day:
This world, in which the sword and spear
the rifle and the gun
Hold sway as idols of our fears
will one day be undone.
When all the weapons of our hates
will surely be recast
As tools to plow and plant the soil
where peace will reign at last.
A distant dream, yet we will dare
By Advent’s light to forge
With Christ, new hands and hearts with which
to study war no more.
ADVENT 2018
When doubt or sorrow fills the soul,
Come, O longed for promised Word.
When lies and falsehoods take their hold,
Come, O Truth that must be heard.
When fear is stirred with words of hate,
Come, O perfect Love to reign.
Our hearts with fervent hope await:
Come, O Christ be born again.
ADVENT 2017
Before the angels sang with joy
to shepherds on that night
The Spirit sang Creation’s song
in darkness and in light.
The song was heard in Sarah’s laugh,
so too, through slavery’s tears
And in the prophets’ anguished cries
that coursed throughout the years.
Until the word was heard again
not from the proud or strong
But by a woman called in faith
to offer up her song.
That Word, proclaimed by Mary’s soul –
God’s purpose and desire
Becomes in Christ our song to sing
to set our hearts on fire
With strength to share as angels did
the news of Jesus’ birth:
That love, and only love, will reign
as Sovereign of the earth.
ADVENT 2016
Though the sun has set this evening,
with the windows shuttered tight.
Hang a lantern in the doorway,
guests may yet approach tonight.
In the corner of the stable,
where the animals are fed
Gather hay and bring a blanket,
hurry, make a manger bed.
Places we would least imagine,
dusty corners of the heart
Lives, long shut by fear or sadness,
There! God’s gift will still impart
Promise of a life abundant,
in that most unlikely place
Hang your lantern, bring your blanket,
greet him with your warm embrace.
ADVENT 2015
For the first time since starting this tradition, I used a poem from a previous year – 2005. The year 2005 began with the aftermath of the devastating tsunami in the South Pacific, followed later in the year by the trauma of Hurricane Katrina on the Gulf Coast. Both natural disasters were in mind as I composed that year’s poem. In 2015, the plight of thousands of refugees seeking safety and security made me look back to this poem, which again seemed quite timely. It has been set to several musical settings, which you can find by returning to the home page and clicking on the “So Far From Home: Music” page.
So far from home, we make our way
together, yet alone
Behind, the world we know and love
ahead, a new unknown.
We did not choose this time or path
but now, as night draws near
We seek a place of warmth and rest,
O, do not turn in fear.
Some bread, a bed, a birthing stool
is what we need tonight.
We stand before your door and knock
is yours a welcome light?
Yes, I’ve the heart, the home, the life
that opens wide the door
To greet the stranger, friend, or foe;
that welcomes Christ once more.
ADVENT 2014
There is a dream, there is a place
where justice and peace forever embrace.
There, where the wolf lies with the lamb
there in the heart of the Holy I AM.
Where is that dream, where is that place
with so much on earth, diminished, defaced?
How do we dream, how do we dare
see such a vision through grief and despair?
Look for a star, look for a bed,
where cattle and sheep each ev’ning are fed.
Justice and peace, heaven and earth
there will embrace in a marvelous birth.
ADVENT 2013
When Mary first heard Gabriel’s voice
she trembled at his word.
But faith prevailed, she made the choice
and life within her stirred.
Then Joseph, dreaming, heard his call:
“Fear not, ” the angel said.
And faith prevailed, with axe and awl,
he made a cradle bed.
The love that Mary bears within
and Joseph’s firm embrace
Will show a world worn weak by sin
God’s good and gracious face.
So when, O God, you beckon us
and fears or doubts arise,
Let faith prevail, confirm our trust,
O Love, you will abide!
ADVENT 2012
Waken again to the wonder
that Advent will slowly reveal.
Search for a star that will guide you,
or watch by your sheep in the fields.
Go, when the angels have beckoned
And worship in lowliest stall.
Majesty born in the manger,
the Love who is Lord of us all.
ADVENT 2011
We know to keep the door ajar
for strangers trav’ling from afar.
We know to make a manger bed
where ox and sheep are nightly fed.
But you, whose birth we’ll welcome there
will turn our gaze to love and care
For ev’ry child at ev’ry birth,
in whom we’ll see your sacred worth.
ADVENT 2010
I knew when I welcomed two strangers that night
their needs would be simple, a bed and a light.
Though late was their coming, their doorknock abrupt,
a back behind stable they’d hardly disrupt.
But how could I know that an imminent birth
would disrupt so many, yet waken the earth?
Your need was so simple, just this, nothing more:
to give all I had both to love and adore.
ADVENT 2009
Winter woods, all unadorned
still show forth abundant green
Cedar, hemlock, pine, and fir,
fresh in all their fullness seen.
Ever green and ever new,
ever silent, still they sing
Of their Maker’s will and way
these the words their branches bring:
Green grows from the frozen earth
life will flourish even here.
Green against the steel gray sky,
love will always conquer fear.
With these greens we make a wreath,
these the words we sing and pray:
“Come, dear Jesus, ever new,
be our life, our light and way.”
ADVENT 2008
Look and see the stars of night,
ancient fires burning bright.
In their glory soon behold
one far brighter than the old.
Look and see the sign above
telling of the oldest love:
Word who formed all heav’n and earth
soon made new in human birth.
Look and see each hope and dream
born anew in love’s bright gleam.
Star of new creation’s morn.
lead us to where Christ is born.
ADVENT 2007
Though war and hatred seem to reign,
prepare within a place again.
A lighted door, some manger hay,
a bed of rest upon the way.
And be upon this wounded earth
the place where Christ can cry in birth,
And with each new found, struggling breath
reveal the life that conquers death.
ADVENT 2006
Where daily bread is broken
we place a wreath of green
And pray to see another feast,
the banquet yet unseen.
Where ev’ry heart is wakened
and ev’ry sorrow healed
Where none will thirst or want for bread
and love will be revealed.
As welcome for the exile
and justice for the poor
The binding of all brokenness
the end of endless war
Where daily bread is broken
we form a crown of light
And sing in hope, to welcome Christ
upon this Advent night.
ADVENT 2005
The year 2005 began with the aftermath of the devastating tsunami in the South Pacific, followed later in the year by the trauma of Hurricane Katrina on the Gulf Coast. Both natural disasters were in mind as I composed that year’s poem.
So far from home, we make our way
together, yet alone
Behind, the world we know and love
ahead, a world unknown.
We did not choose this time or path
but now, as night draws near
We seek a place of warmth and rest,
O, do not turn in fear.
Some bread, a bed, a birthing stool
is what we need tonight.
We stand before your door and knock
is yours a welcome light?
Yes, I’ve the heart, the home, the life
that opens wide the door
To greet the stranger, friend, or foe;
that welcomes Christ once more.
ADVENT 2004
I search the sky this Advent night
and wonder if one star above
Once guided others to the light
that beckons me to live in love.
Come light, from star and manger bed
and lead me to your promised day
Where all on paths of peace are led
to walk in Wisdom’s holy way.
ADVENT 2003
The manger on the mantle
will hold a bed of hay.
And prophet songs of promise
will point us to the way
Of making heart and hearthstone
a welcome dwelling place
For Christ the infant, stranger,
and saving gift of grace.
ADVENT 2002
Gather in your balsam branches
carry home both spruce and pine.
Make a wreath from winter’s woodland
fresh and full, a fragrant sign.
Light your candles, bright with promise
for the healing of the earth.
By their light, keep watch in wonder
’till the night of joyful birth.
ADVENT 2001
The poem for this year was composed shortly after the attacks of 9/11. As I contemplated Advent, I tried to imagine what it would be like to be a parent about to bring new life into a world torn apart by terror and violence.
Joseph’s Song
How can I craft you a cradle,
O child of my dream, so soon to be born?
How can I make something worthy,
with hands that are old and wood that is worn?
How can I welcome you, loved one,
when terror and strife still torment the earth?
How, when I cannot protect you,
can I yet rejoice in hope of your birth?
Show me, O child of the Spirit,
how love born anew will overcome death.
Help me to welcome you gladly,
with all of my soul, my life, and my breath.
ADVENT 2000
O Christ, if we have shut the door
to laughter, love, and great delight
This Advent, show us all the more
your way of truth, your life and light.
That way, whose gentle love defies
our fears and failings, so to sound
Through infant’s cry the glad surprise:
the gift and grace of joy unbound!
ADVENT 1999
Who will come and go with us upon this winter night
holding fast through snow and storm
to seek the dawning light?
Who has power, strength, and speed to make the journey last?
Will we find our guide amidst
the swift, the strong, the fast?
Not by strength shall we be led, but rather by the wise:
those whom grief has torn and taught
and those whose songs are sighs.
Those who live with quiet hope and wisdom born of tears,
they will bring us to that dawn
when Christ again appears.
ADVENT 1998
Gabriel, O Gabriel, O have you made haste?
Have you the byways of Nazareth traced?
Herald of heaven on wings take your flight,
bearing your message of love and of light.
Mary, O Mary, O what will you say?
How could you know God would work in this way?
Step forth in faith, feel the promise of life,
with its full measure of joy and of strife.
Joseph, O Joseph, O what have you heard?
What have you seen in your dream of the Word?
Crafter of wood, now a cradle prepare,
bed for the blessing the world soon will share.
Brothers and sisters, O what will we do,
when in our lives we hear God call anew?
Watch, wait, and pray that this story of old,
now in our lives in new ways will be told.
ADVENT 1997
The poem for this year was composed after I had decided that the design for the calendar would resemble stained glass windows.
Light of God, so distant seeming
source beyond both sense and sight
When through ancient windows streaming
greets us dancing with delight.
Love of God, our deepest yearning,
find the window for your way.
Gift of grace beyond our earning,
greet us from the manger hay.
ADVENT 1996
Winter paints the evening sky
with palette dark and light
Contrast sharpened by the cold
at the fall of night.
Snow upon the deepest green
of the forest pine
Stars against the midnight sky
Mystery’s design.
Darkness was the home to love
when nourished in the womb.
Light encircled love at birth
where there was no room.
Welcome then the winter sky,
welcome pine and snow.
For in both the dark and light
love again will grow.
ADVENT 1995
Swift waters, stilled by winter’s breath
no more their courses take.
And seeds now frozen in the ground
know not if they will wake.
In taking flight or finding den
the bird and bear are one
With all who seek a homing place
at dying of the sun.
Since I have wandered far from home
I too seek shelt’ring grace
That home where once I dwelt with joy
secure in your embrace.
I struggle through the wilderness
but still recall the flame,
That warmed the hearth within my heart,
O Caller of My Name.
O you, who loose the flowing streams
and warm the seeds of earth,
You did not shun a manger bed
to cradle you at birth.
I need not seek some distant home
for you return to dwell
Here in the stable of my soul,
O Love, Emmanuel.
ADVENT 1994
Within the heart of Mary sings the angel’s beck’ning voice
And all creation waits to see if she will make the choice
To bear the life, the Word of God, in labor and in birth
To nurse the Christ, annointed one, Good News to all the earth.
“Then let it be,” she firmly says, “according to your Word.”
And in the waters of her womb the gift of life is stirred.
Her soul becomes a song of praise for all that God has done
Inviting all who watch and wait to praise the Holy One.
Within the womb of ev’ry life there is a birthing place
Where seeds of justice, love, and peace will grow in warmth and grace.
With Mary we will dare in faith to sing, “Now let it be!
Bring forth from us in wondrous birth the world we long to see.”
ADVENT 1993
Why is it so, when wrapped and warm
against the wint’ry ice and storm
We yet bring outdoors in once more
to dress the table, hearth, and door?
And raise the tree to shimmer bright
with stars we’ve gathered from the night?
The world without, when brought inside
becomes our sign this Advent tide.
For God reverses what we see
and inside out the world will be:
The rich sent empty fast away,
the poor raised up to greet the day.
The end of pride and power’s might
proclaimed anew from Zion’s height.
And in such form as none would guess,
the Word will come to judge and bless.
ADVENT 1992
With winter greens and colored lights
we dress the house, adorn the nights
Seeking now to greet anew
the one whose way is pure and true.
Yet more than infant’s cry is heard
by those who tend the season’s word.
Prepare the home, the heart, the life
to greet the day that ends all strife.
The sword and spear to be recast,
all enmity to die at last.
When sorrow turns to joy and mirth
and heaven’s home is found on earth.
ADVENT 1991
The sparkling sky of coldest night
speaks of strong yet distant light.
Then where shall closer warmth be found
with which to thaw the frozen ground
Of hopes and yearnings unfulfilled
and cries for justice, silenced, stilled?
Keep watch, though cold and still the night-
the earth shall warm to hope’s delight.
A star, a birth, Good News to tell,
0ur God with us, Emmanuel!
ADVENT 1990
Would that we knew the time or place
where God would meet us face to face.
Our homes and lives we’d then prepare,
to make a royal welcome there.
And yet the news has come to all:
in city street and manger stall,
Shall there be found, among the least
the One whose star shone in the east.
copyright, 2020 Thomas N. Mousin
Please contact me for permission to reproduce poems beyond use on the calendar itself.
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