christmas unwrapped

 

“When Humanity Dies” – by Mohammed Yousuf | National Geographic | used without permission!

Traces of bloody after-birth sit drying on the hair of the newest neonate – red and wrinkled lying there

In a mangy manger in a simple, straw-filled stable,

in a paupers palace, perfect for a prince.

A fuss of farmyard animals filters through the air

And roaming through the room, the whiff of waste is everywhere

Flimsy fabric chosen for the rapid wrapping of the royalty

in that threadbare throne a modest monarch lies.

Seemingly sub-standard in its hostile hospitality

A venue for a vagrant not a castle for a king

The message of the moment is not bounty for the bourgeoisie

But dispatch for the down-trodden, deadbeat and despised

In the onslaught of outsiders, a surprising flock of shepherds

And the migrant mystic magi bringing frankincense and myrrh

Gold completes the token tribute taken for the toddler

Strange but select salute for the son

Once the final paper parcel’s pretty wrapping is ripped open

And donations left discarded on the busy bedroom floor

Take a moment in the magic to mull the meaning over

Humble hardship bringing hope in our surprising saviour’s call

This un-beautiful beginning, disruptive, discord, dissonant

Clashing with conceptions of the normal or routine

Radical, revolutionary, rooted in reality

In its frugal frailty, the message of messiah is that Christmas is for all.