Hurry

 

Christ is born everywhere

I mean no disrespect

 

But Christ is born in igloos

And in houses split by war

Among refugees

And in soldier camps

 

Christ is born in Istanbul

Where meet all kinds of Christianity

He is born in mosques

And in Jewish temples

 

Christ is born in Norway,

When the days are dark

Christ is born in Fiji

Under lights of humid stars

 

Christ is born in Outback

And on New Zealand slopes

Within the folds of sheeping beings

And urban Christchurch, too

 

Christ is born in small America

And in the larger parts

Among the mean and angry

Those whose eyes and ears are full

 

Christ is born in Bethlehem,

Pennsylvania, and nearby Nazareth

In Resurrection, New Mexico,

And Devil’s Foot, Montana

 

Christ is born in France

In Germany and Belgium

Between tectonic places in Italy

And on the sweeps of Spain’s La Mancha

 

Inside the skins of churches

And other noble halls

Once bright and now sleeping

In states of ruin

 

Eurasian steppes and valleys

In places to the east and north and south

The crossing points of human worlds

And outplaces far removed

 

Christ is born where plots are made

In despot places

And Christ is born where hopes are low

And dreams are only quiet things

 

Christ is born for you

And me

Alongside faithful Hindus

And Buddhists on the way

 

Christ will walk beside all pilgrims

Those who hear a call

And those who know not

Where they go

 

Christ is born in Africa

In rutted villages and paved cities

Where voices rise in song,

While others silenced knowingly

 

Christ is born in Andes places

Those fed by weeping Amazon

With those who live in shadows

Where end all lands

And continents might cry

 

Christ is on the ice

And born into the air

Underneath the earth where

Minerals move

And where things are still

 

Christ is born near enemies or friends

No feeling is required

Christ is born in word

And light where

Faith is exposed as well as misdirection

 

Christ is born, and it is good

Christ is born and virtue opens

And evil is shuttered

Christ saves all who wish

And those who don’t know how

 

Christ is born for us

All worlds allow

Heir of Earth

All oxygen and ocean

Hale or foul,

And we should turn to please

And with shouts or

In silence bow

 

C L Couch

 

Advertisement