Sung to the tune of "Oh Little Town of Bethlehem"
Our infant school nativity,
Directed by Mrs. Page,
Was my first opportunity
To act upon the stage.
I always was an extrovert;
So that appealed to me.
My hopes and dreams of all the years,
An actor I would be.
I wanted to play Joseph,
‘Cos Mary was played by Joyce.
And, of all the little girls in the class,
She was my first choice.
And if I couldn’t be Joseph
And ride along with her.
I’d be a king with golden crown
And frankincense or myrrh
I practised every morning,
And every evening.
Imagining the audience applause
For Joseph or a king.
But when it came to casting,
It didn’t come to pass.
The part that Mrs Page gave to me
Was the back half of the ass.
But one day I’ll be famous,
And then I’ll marry Joyce.
The latest toast of theatreland
And all will know my voice.
I’ll invite all my friends to attend,
As I take centre stage.
They’ll be there in the front row.
But I won’t ask Mrs Page.
Where's that Bethlehem?
I toiled hard to find out that
It's right in my heart.
mary (a quiet yes) bows low
as light (soft as breath) spills into her womb—
a promise cradled in infinite space.
joseph’s hands (calloused & trembling)
grasp the weight of whispers:
holy. impossible. near.
caesar decrees, the world bends—
roads unravel like threads on a loom.
a city swells, heavy with strangers
searching for shelter,
for place,
for peace.
(no room)
(no room)
(no room)
until a manger beckons, humble as dust.
stars shiver—
their silver echoes fall to earth
to crown a child
wrapped in rags,
in glory.
shepherds (all elbows & awe) stumble in:
the sky split open,
angels singing of peace like rain.
their stories drip into silence,
hearts thudding in wonder.
the child stirs.
and the world breathes anew—
eternity held
in the curve of His tiny hand.
All was well with heaven. Peace flowed like crystal water streams.
Cries from the earth filled the ears of the Holy Trinity
Love for the humans flooded in them as they heard their screams.
The Son consented to come down, waiving his divinity.
Mary said, Amen. Joseph accepted the divine call.
The time of long waiting of souls seemed to come to an end.
At a night when the earth experienced heavy snowfall
The moon and stars witnessed liberation slowly descend.
Troubling no one, like a silent comrade, he came and dwelt
Between the tired spouses, who travelled long, seeking the Lord
The nations heard angel choirs and, in adoration, knelt.
Blessed by his birth, birds and beasts too sang in one accord.
This world will strike, he knew, mock, and, at the end, crucify.
Fulfilling his goal, shouldn't he, yet, ascend to the sky?
Poor Mrs.Lotty became so confused,
But because of her age she's excused.
She adores decorating.
But what she is creating,
Has the neighborhood somewhat amused.
On Halloween she put up her trèe.
There were ghosts in the nativity!
Santa wore a pilgrim hat,
The tree topper was a bat!
None could fault her creativity.
The wreath made of fall leaves on the door,
Was decked out and like never before.
Pumpkin, snowman, and turkey,
Seemed to me a bit quirky.
But it was festive, that is for sure!
You try to make them civilized and grown-up,
but the words are infants,
they want to crawl around and yell for a bit.
You know that an eye is upon you.
watching you in that whelping room
where creation rearranges molecules
into a planetary system of speech
made of matchsticks and glue.
A poem is about to be splashed,
onto a speeding window of light.
Logic and reason must first
bash their bulbous heads together,
until their mechanical, self-winding brains
fall out.
The collective humming of incubators,
begins to lipread your silence.
A process similar to hand washing.
Eventually a swaddled indigenous form,
unwraps itself,
it begins to walk upright.
Matchsticks and glue
form readable fragments.
You begin to hope,
that someone inside that watching eye
will name what you have done -
even attempt,
to explain it to you.
It came at the right time
Just before my fragile heart
Was about to burst with the largely
Unnecessary stress of work
Some things have to be completed
The boss's demands
Wielding power with no
Consideration for the small man
Or the small woman
(not so small now actually)
I think we are both tired
But rules is rules
They say "it's the journey,
Not the destination"
But the destination can be
Important too..
Anyway we made it
It's been a rocky road
Travelling via the starlight
Resting when the heat overwhelms
There is so much to look forward to
So much.
I sense it's very nearly time..
I just have to find us a bed for the night
Jolly Home Is where
Family members and friends
For the Holidays.
Christmas time
Joy is in the air
In full force.
Holy Home
Love is in the air
In full throttle.
For the Holidays
Everything is unblemished
For Humanity.
Copyright © December 2023, Hébert Logerie, all rights reserved.
Hébert Logerie is the author of several collections of poems.
a maiden from Nazareth
fully human,never divine
in a stable did confine
brought forth a child-
human,Jesus,saviour..mine
when captivity
normally nativity
with civility
Finally, Wise Men did show,
They lost Bethlehem, you know,
Their queens did wait,
Moronics arrived bit late,
They forgot to deliver the afterbirth,
Now there's no Peace on Earth,
"I don't want any more pets!"
No Mary ever said, but yet,
Peace on Earth would be great
For our human race, anticipate!
His lineage was from the nobles,
The government was to be His,
They had read it in the books,
Prophets foretold of His birth,
Honourable titles were given to Him,
Ones befitting of a lord,
Everyone awaited His coming,
Their eyes were on the home
of birth of kings and rulers,
Many years passed by,
They never lost hope and sight,
For He eventually arrived,
Thousands of years can't
hinder the fulfilment of a prophesy,
But He came from the least expected place,
He was born in a little and lowly town,
Often He was dejected and disregarded,
His words were lightly esteemed,
He wasn't deterred,
For He had come in
the volume of books written about Him,
For He had a due mission to accomplish.
December 26, 2022.
Nativity scene
Gifts bring
King of kings
Brightest spark
Guiding light
Voice of God
Honors, praise
Future days
Hope stays
It's the second week of December.
Christmas of course is my first thought
and the cards I should be writing instead of this.
Unwrapped gifts are over-running the closet
so I can't find my shoes.
I must get out my Santa collection,
my grandson has asked twice already
remembering some from last year that I don't.
He keeps re-arranging my display of angels
already set up down in the basement.
I found my new shining star hanging
in the middle of my Christmas tree
Last year, he moved my glass snowman and
put it with my "glass" nativity scene
because it looks better there.
Right in there with Mary, the baby
and the Wise Men - a snowman.
Did I miss Matthew's mention
of snow in the Christmas story?
I couldn't move it now if I wanted to.
November 25, 2022
Sponsor Constance La France
Contest Name Writing Challenge - Write A Christmas Poem
They had to leave their Nazareth home
at the decree of the emperor of Rome,
Joseph and pregnant Mary travelled to Bethlehem
where nobody they found to take care of them.
They were visited by an angel, Gabriel
who predicted and was gracious to tell,
Mary would soon give birth to a son,
the Son of God, by divine intervention.
Travelling tired to the new town all the way
and failing to find a place to stay,
they took refuge in a stable empty
where Jesus was born to save the humanity.
That was when a brilliant star rose high
above the stable in the splendorous sky,
attracted three wise men from the east
who from Herod saved our savior, Christ.
The nativity dawned a heavenly day to rejoice
and to seek the Lord’s grace in devout voice,
pay faithful homage to the God’s son,
for He would save us from the sins done.
_______________
January 14, 2022
Contest : Nativity New Poem
Sponsor : Eve Roper
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