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Christmas Poems

Nativity scene in black and white

ADINAH’S STORY

When I came to them, in answer to their prayers,
they named me Adinah and at five
gave me a lamb to care for. I fussed
over her and she fussed over me
as sisters should. I embraced her gentle
warmth and we grew together, wandering
the hills around Bethlehem, picking the bellflower
and brushing aside the Judean pillory,
thrashing through our neighbor’s barley field.

Then, one winter’s night, rounding up
the sheep to go home, my father and I
and two cousins felt a difference in the air
and then a hushed humming; a sprinkling
of light fell on our shoulders and down
onto all the bright green the rain had brought –
the sound erupted, a glorious peal
of music so beautiful it filled our hearts
like morning honey; it moved in a slant
down our hill and played its strings to match
a wild, lilting chorus, like a hundred voices
bursting in joy from our synagogue; we ran
to catch it, slipping and falling: it rang clearly
through the cold and blended with a starshine
that lit a small hovel, near a Jerusalem pine,
where a man tended his wife and a tiny babe.
My lamb, now grown but knowing the needs
of the young, slowly drew close
and offered her warmth to her new charge.

I am old now and never knew what happened
to the child. After the music had grown soft
and left us wondering, I remember the night
lay silent and waiting. I hope that child
is safe.

William J. Rewak, S.J.
Christmas 2020

 

Mary looking lovingly at newborn baby Jesus.

HAPPILY

Big with the wonder of it
she held the gentle arm
she had learned to lean on
since the night of his dream
and both walked to the dark space
they were given.

We’ve heard the tale
told and re-told
we’ve spread nostalgic comfort
over the scene with music
foreign tongues
the bleating of a young lamb.

But there was pain, and a fear
that all may go awry
that here on a cold, careless night
amid the muck of straw
something might be lost
and the promise defiled.

So when through her tears
she heard his helpless cry
she reached to hold him close
wiped away the grime
and looked into her child’s eyes
a child’s eyes

then nursed him
and began their plans
on how to teach their son
(who had already known eternity)
snuggling now, happily,
on her welcoming breast.

William J. Rewak, S.J.
Christmas 2018

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