"There was Nothing Cute About It"

A-Poem-a-Day Until Christmas...

Image credit: dreamstime.com

THERE WAS NOTHING CUTE ABOUT IT—

 

When Mary traveled with Joseph

from Nazareth to Bethlehem

over ruts and rocks and hills

on the back of a donkey

during her final month of pregnancy

it was an arduous journey—

There was nothing cute about it!

 

And when her labor pains began

and she was far from home

far from the midwife, she trusted

and the birthing room turned out to be

the hay-strewn floor of a dirty stable

there was nothing cute about it!

 

and when following the birth of Jesus

Joseph had a dream

and determined they had to flee to Egypt

to escape Herod’s twisted plan

so they quickly tossed a few necessities

in a saddle bag and the three of them set off

for a place of safety—

there was nothing cute about it, at all!

 

But, when I open my pretty Christmas cards

and see the holy family journeying

with Mary, draped in a lovely blue gown

and Joseph strolling alongside her

staff-in-hand, as their donkey

plods along agreeably

it all looks pleasant and serene

 

and when I gaze at manger scenes

(including my own)

arranged tidily on polished tabletops

the scene is as perfectly charming

as the Christmas tableau

at Radio City Music Hall

 

still, the reality is—

There was nothing cute about it!

 

but wasn’t it positively

wonderful and miraculous

just the same?

 

Maude Carolan Pych

"Behold the Lamb...poetically!"

by Maude Carolan Pych

is available online

at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc.

www.maudecarolanpych.net