*Past Poems Celebrating the Birth of Christ*
Inn Keeper’s Soul (card)
It was late when the rap came at the door;
“Was there room for two, maybe three, more?”
A man with honest face and callused hands,
(But did I see a touch of distant lands?)
And his lovely, young wife, lovely but tired;
Whose time for childbearing had all but expired,
Stood waiting for an affirmative nod.
2
I wish I could have let them in my inn,
(To not do so seemed almost like a sin.)
But every room had been sold out that night
Long before the sun had slipped out of sight
And I had no corner, I had no room.
(I was sleeping between the mop and the broom.)
Briefly I too waited, praying to God.
3
Then like a flash I remembered the cave.
My eyes rolled upward – Thanksgiving I gave.
Then lead them through the most silent of nights
And left them there with two candles for lights.
It was, I thought, the best thing I had,
But though best, it was unspeakable sad
That a Baby should be born under sod.
4
Later, I could see them in my mind’s eye;
Though I never formally said Good-bye.
And much later I learned a Son was born
Between the time I left and the morn.
A Son for whom Religion had no room;
A Son Who will be the church’s Bridegroom –
Every worthy of Praise, Glory and Laud!
– eab, Dec. ‘93
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