In The Straw

from my new Christmas manuscript:

and the Saviour
lay
in the straw

devoid of comfort
but for the warm, soft breast
of she who birthed him

without material wealth,
his earthly parents
homeless
poor
and soon
to be on the run
because of him

a penniless King

the Saviour
lay
in the straw

child of the girl
who risked the scandal
of unmarried pregnancy
for him

son of the God
who turned the world’s values
upside down
who loved us far too much
to leave us
as we were

son
of Love
who created us
to love like him

and came as the Saviour
who lay in the straw