for Maggie Cavanaugh
What did Joseph say?
“I could find only this stable.”
What did Mary say?
“Then here we will stay.”
Where did they sleep?
They placed hay in a corner
to make a mattress
and covered themselves
with their only blanket.
And that night Jesus was born!
Yes, that very night.
Can we go see the stable one day?
It’s not there any more.
Can we go see where it was?
No one knows where it stood…
Wait…yes, there is someone:
In a little apartment…
A little apartment like ours?
Yes, on an old street in Bethlehem,
a small child…just about your age…
wakes up every Christmas Eve
to see a glowing light
in a corner of the room
and angels descending
like gentle rain through moonbeams.
They kneel and kiss the light
then rise like shining mist
into the starry night.
The light fades to dark
and the child goes back to sleep
to dream glowing dreams.
And only the little child knows.
Yes. Only the little child.
Roger Armbrust
December 20, 1995
