Monthly Archives: February 2026

The Threshold of Night – a poem by Jeanette de Beauvoir

The Threshold of Night

Compline is the Church’s night prayer, facing the danger at the edge of darkness, rendering time holy, quieting minds for rest.


Compline starts with stillness.
Silence. Candlelight flickering.
Shadows dancing on ancient
talismans: wait for it—

          The breath of air brushing
          past, the presence, the cloak 
          of darkness spread gently in

the silence. Holding back the night.
Voices rise, a chant written in the
stars, transcribed centuries ago when
the world trembled with fear.

The breath of air
the presence
You are not alone. Wait for it—
	 
The prayer rises with the incense:

          Be our light in the darkness 
          deliver us from all perils 
          and dangers of this night.

Candlelight flickering
Holding back the dark:

This is how we live on the threshold of night.

Jeannette de Beauvoir is a poet and novelist who lives and works at Land’s End—Provincetown, Massachusetts. Her work has appeared in the Emerson Review, the Looking Glass Review, Avalon Literary Review, the Blue Collar Review, Sheepshead Review, On Gaia Literary, Merganser Magazine, the Adirondack Review, Perception, and the New England Review, among others; she was featured in WCAI’s Poetry Sunday, and received the Mary Ballard Chapbook Prize and the Outermost Poetry Contest national award. More at jeannettedebeauvoir.com

Welcome St. Brigid – a poem by Margaret T. Rochford

Image: Theresa knott at English Wikipedia Permission Dual-licensed under CC-BY-2.5 and GFDL by the author
Welcome St. Brigid

6.56 am snowdrops push
through cloudless dawn
breathe in delicate Imbolc air,

heads bowed in prayer. 

Half a teaspoon of candlelight

prayers for the king of kings
     a promise to return.

Welcome patron saint of poets,
printers, farmers, nuns, sailors—
workers gather in quiet reverence.

The moment weighs on me,
half-formed cross in my hands,
       rushes press between 

 thumb and forefinger,
each fold, each turn, a prayer,

 each turn and wrap a word
  weave a poem, a prayer.

Welcome patron saint of babies,
midwives, dairy workers, beer—
blessed, in earthly joy, holiness

hands on rushes,
fold with care —
prayers made visible,

Weave poems, bless
connections between

 everyday and the divine;
this humble ritual binds us all.
Welcome St. Brigid, patron saint of poets.

Margaret T Rochford is a poet and playwright originally from Ireland living in London. She regularly performs her poetry at open mike sessions. Her poetry has been published in magazines and on line, she is working on her first pamphlet. Two of her short plays have been performed at the Irish Cultural Centre in London and she is currently working on a play about Irish dancing.