The Message Poem by Kevin Rice

All was peaceful in the house that day
An uneventful morn like any other
Half-heartedly I trifled
At ordinary things,
Absent-minded and hushed
In my cramped chamber

No say had I in my appointment
I had no soothing hint or kind advice
Of what event awaited.
How could a maid expect or be prepared
For circumstances so unthinkable?

The messenger arrived
Unseen at first
Unheard until I felt a presence.
I have no words
To illustrate the visitant I saw
Such was my fear
And, trembling, I discerned
A spoken salutation
And then such powerful tidings
That my being shook in awe
There was a silence and
The messenger was still
while I composed the words
I struggled to articulate,
But finally,
And solemn in the stress upon the words,
My answer issued forth
'Behold the handmaid of the Lord.
Be it done unto me according to thy word.'