Mary Was a Real Mom

Welcome back to A-Poem-a-Day Until Christmas

There was a sudden unforeseeable halt in posting

because I needed to fly to Colorado, to be with my husband

who needed emergency surgery to insert a pacemaker.

He's doing well now and we're both back in New Jersey

preparing to celebrate Christmas like Christians everywhere
and I'm back to posting "A-Poem-a-Day Until Christmas."

Photo credit: youtube.com

MARY

She was a real maiden

gracious and virtuous

so she trembled

as any girl might

at an angel’s visit

But she had real faith

in a real God

and she said, “Yes.”

She was a real woman

not blue-gowned in plaster

A poor carpenter’s wife

not an artist’s rendering

gilded and haloed

She bulged big with child

as she rode astride an ass

and during her real travail

brought forth a baby

in a Bethlehem stable

She was a real mother

He was a real son

She nursed him

changed him

bathed and cradled him

as any mother would

She smiled at his first word

saw him take his first step

and when he fell

and scraped his tender knees

she washed away blood

not yet deemed Precious

and soothed him

with soft lullabies

When he was twelve

and they discovered

he was missing

as they traveled home

after the Passover

she was anxious

as any mother would be

and heaved a great sigh

when they found him, safe

in the temple courts

Yes, she was a real mom

and he was a real son

so, it’s not surprising

it was she

who sensed his power

she who encouraged him to act

at the wedding feast

when wine stopped flowing

for she knew

she just knew…

and she was real

at the Crossbeams

Simeon had told her

long, long ago

a sword would pierce her

Though hers be bloodless

it penetrated sharp

and deep, as truly

as the gaping wounds

she now was powerless

to soothe

He looked down

from His agony

into hers—

gave her to mother

his friend

gave his friend

to be her son

It was always about love

She was a real mom

He is the real Savior

Maude Carolan