When I see the cradle rocking...

Advent

by Donald Hall

When I see the cradle rocking
What is it that I see?
I see a rood on the hilltop
        Of Calvary.

When I hear the cattle lowing
What is it that they say?
They say that shadows feasted
       At Tenebrae.

When I know that the grave is empty,
Absence eviscerates me,
And I dwell in a cavernous, constant
        Horror vacui.

(Source: Poetry magazine, January 2010)