Prelude to Nativity

by

Diane Klammer

What was it like, Mary, when those hard hearted
inkeepers turned you away from shelter, forcing you to give birth in a stable?
Were you angry? Frightened? Anxious?
Did the new straw poke sharp
through your blanket into your
back during your labor?
Did the animals make you sneeze?
Did the dust and insects leave you be?
Did the cold night air seep
into each contraction?

How did Joseph know how
to cut the cord, to keep things clean.
Did the newborn cry of the Christchild
ring like a carol in your ears?
Did the afterbirth come easy?
Did you shed tears?
Did you sleep tired and spent?
So many of these details are left out of the nativity.

If your Son, God's Son loved
you so well, why did He allow
you to give birth in a stable?
We know His kingdom was
not of this world. But what of you?
He is praised for His humble beginnings,
but in his human state, would he be too young to remember the cold?
Yet you knew the hardship
well.

Maybe knowing He was to die,
He was preparing you for
a life of sorrow He knew would come.
Maybe He bade you pay tribute
to the Indian women, the African slaves
the migrant farmers who were forced to deliver in the field
before standing to work,
thier blood staining
the corn, the grapes, the cotton.

Maybe He bade you pay tribute to the countless homeless women in places like India, China, Africa, the Americas,
who must give birth in the streets
when they themselves are so hungry, cold and weak.

Maybe even then, He gave you a glimmer
of the gift he would later give to all:
the same gift you gave-
Himself and
the pain of living.

NEXT?
Why don't you look at Joyous Times
by: Joyce Hemsley
from: Sunderland, England, UK

To visit all of Diane Klammer's poems, click HERE

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