The cows
in the byre
stand still
as statues
we can almost
imagine
Their frosty breaths
warming the infant
Jesus
who looks like a
a doll
a little girl
would get for Christmas
& be delighted with.
It’s a girl
doll
but what’s sex or gender
got to do with it.
Mary & Joseph
look petrified
as any 8 year old
would
miraculously transposed
here
to centre
stage
under the hot lights
& the intense gaze
of the many headed
monster
an audience is
blinded with flashes
as proud mothers & fathers
record
for posterity
Mary & Joseph
(they actually are Mary & Joseph)
in their terrific
terrification
a teacher(usually
so nice to them)
almost hissing
like a snake
(and swearing by mistake)
“Pick the f***ing baby up
...ooops! ”
A wise man
(the second wise man to be precise)
pisses himself
and is led off
in howls
of laughter
that the audience
drowns
him in.
“Never again…never again! ”
he repeats in shock
as he, a future
Geilgud or Burton
is lost to us.
So terrified
as never
to tread the boards ever
ever again.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
Poor little man....Never, never again....