Saturday, December 18, 2010

Waxing Poetic at Christmas

TEST OF FAITH

Under my grandmothers tree
a nativity set, stable thatched

with real palm. kings bejeweled
and robed, babe in swaddling

separate from his bed
of cellophane grass,

shredded straw strewn
over cotton snow,

a white-light star aglow
through angel hair and pine.

I played house,
moved the figures from place

to place, the art of display,
preparation I know now

for this setting of creches
we sell in our stores.

When I was six
I lost the babe no bigger

than a thumbnail. That loss
foreshadowing

for shoplifted babes
always the first in the holy family

to go missing.

From Blooming Red
by Carolyn Howard-Johnson and Magdalena Ball
preprinted with encouragement.

Carolyn Howard-Johnson is a major supporter of Wisconsin Regional Writers' Association and the founder of the How To Do It Frugally series.
Instructor for the renowned UCLA Extension Writers' Program


Web site: http://www.howtodoitfrugally.com/

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