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.