The third hour rises in the mornlight,
when the Dove of the first dawn descends in flight.
I am often flung away
by winds of this blust’ry age,
tossing me, thrown as I wake.
I am often burnt by pain,
by fires of my own arson;
heat that chokes my daily breath.
But the wind of the Dove’s wings
frees my mind to soar on air;
wind that rushes like a breeze.
And the fire of His descent
warms my heart with embering;
wind that kindles my wildfires.
Sext
The sixth hour crests at noontide,
when the eclipsing of the Son casts a shadow on that tree,
where beauty hides.
At the height of day, heaven’s torch illuminates,
like a floodlight, all the blackening depths of me.
The shadows of this hour cower in gold searing,
hiding from rays that plead for my purest candour.
“Behold the Purest Light who bleeds the dark away”:
the voice of the first dawn pierces me quietly,
“Behold the Bleeding Light who heals your night to day”.
At the height of day, heaven’s Son elucidates,
like a maimed lamb, my eclipse, to lay at that tree.
None
The ninth hour passes at noonfall,
when the bell of Hades knells for the last breath of the Living One,
who gave His all.
My dark hour, death’s tolling, has returned;
my blameful mouldering. Pray for me
Mary, Mother of my dying hour.
Wind and fire whip and burn; light and dark
scorch and blind in cruel turn. Pray for me
Mary, Mother of my writhing hour.
Bury me in bloodied water, Lord.
Mary, pray my dying ungraves His
life, restored.
Judd O.A.E. Nzekwe is a 21-year-old British-Nigerian classical and film composer, singer-songwriter, and aspiring poet and theologian who currently studies classical and film composition at Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, UK. Judd’s compositional and poetic works center around the inherent beauty of nature, the sanctification of time and mundanity, and the grandeur found in encountering the presence of the Divine. He is a recent Catholic convert – as of Pentecost 2025 – from Anglican-Evangelicalism, and his newfound Catholic faith greatly informs all of his artistic works. You can find Judd on Instagram and Substack.