Mary's Question

by Alan Stanford


Was this what He intended?
The sweet damp stench of the stable
Carved from the rock?

Was this the promise fulfilled?
Cold stone and rotting wood
And the sound of warmth and merriment
So close beside us
So unreachable
For we were two too many?

And the child?
The produce of the crystal of my soul
A glass to magnify the glory of the promiser?

Was this the promise?
Worshipped for the moment?
Adored by those whose title gave them safety?
Shepherding the minds of those whose minds are led?

Always to be unwanted turned aside rejected
Sent out into the backyard of the heart

Sought out for slaughter by the power temporal and temporary
Exiled hiding running and afraid
Perpetual refugee?

And then betrayed into another place
Of sweet damp stench. A tomb
Carved from the rock?

Was this what he intended for his son?


Christmas Poems
Home