Growing Up

By Ken Gaertner - Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA - 20 November 2017

 

 

In the stable Christ's crib

swayed gently in a breeze.

So many visitors had come

but now, six months later

the days were quiet.

The crib, tiny,

made with the most fragile wood

held all that existence hoped for.

A lamb bleated

and Christ turned to gaze at it.

An ox stomped,

the crib slightly trembled

and Christ reached toward his mother,

his tiny fingers grasping hers

while his lips bubbled into a smile.

Joseph entered the stable,

kissed his wife and child,

then left to build a fence.

A dove flew in and paused

slowly flapping his wings,

engagingly,

and Christ waved at the dove.

The dove grew 

and the silver and gold 

of its feathers

regally transformed themselves

into an angel,

who glowed like the waters

of the sunlit Caspian Sea.

The angel knelt in obeisance 

and Christ with a slight smile

clasped his hands above his head,

and waved,

and the angel disappeared.

"Were you waving at the sunlight?" 

His mother asked.

Jesus kicked his legs, waving his arms 

as he squealed with pleasure.

"Got a lot to tell me," she laughed.

She turned, hearing silence as a whisper.