Noel Noel

 

Christmas at Our Lady of Lourdes 

1.

Christmas visit last year

 Altar in the round

 Mary and Joseph

Make the scene

 Sing choirs of angels,

Sing in exultation

 Can never forget the reason He came

 Rejoice, therefore,
All ye citizens of Bethlehem

 Deep peace at Christmas time

 

 The seeker I sought there

Said he had a rough year,
But he never lost hope

 Nativity window

 Wade in the water, children,

God's going to trouble the waters

Grace pours down on us

 The world is reborn in Him

A blessing on all 

  December 2013

 2.

Visit This Christmas

 

Prayer-rug of the mind
A side dimension

Christmas day I ventured in after enjoying magical gingerbread on a bench in the warming sun in Lakeside park. The wind had made a day in the Fahrenheit fifties seem a lot colder. But the good cheer was contagious among families and friends walking away the calories by the estuary.

I was peaking as I entered and I must admit I gradually got a little freaked-out by the only other person present at that moment. He was a middle-aged black gentleman, bald and bearded, who was sitting in a pew and praying by passing his hands over his head repeatedly in the Muslim manner.

I proceeded to the glorious manger scene and was taken aback to see a dollar bill resting on the Baby Jesus figure. Undaunted I circled the room found my pew, one bathed in window light, and knelt down to pray in a more traditionally Roman Catholic manner.

I heard shuffling nearby as I reposed with my eyes closed. When I opened them again a moment later. I saw that the black guy had his hands around Mary's bosom.

A short time later I observed that additional lucre had been deposited behind Mary's praying hands. Word, she doesn't need it, it's not what we do (outside the Third World), and there is usually a box for donations. Not to find fault, peace on him.  He shoved-off and aside from another group all dressed up in fine clothes who came in to see the manger then left again,

I had the place to myself.

3.

Dorothy Day

2014

 4. 

Solo Notes

On Christmas day at two in the afternoon

in Our Lady of Lourdes on the Lake

the sun occupies

the nativity window

when seen from the kaleidoscopic pew opposite

the sun appears in the area of the glass

representing the Infant Jesus

the light from it

shines in my face

Sparkling wreathes ensheathe me

an incoming tide of poinsettias

surrounds me

Someone left something that belongs to caesar

In the center of the creche tableau

More stained light falls on the organ pipes

Illuminated trees attend us

A circular altar erupts

red and white roses

Lakeside Bird Sanctuary

a parliament of birds 

on the edge of the crib

conversation I'm not privy to

gulls question everything

one watches me writing

in case I sneak a snack

birds circle at all levels

the sky goes mobile

Duchamp gave Calder that name

tall ornamental building

I thought  someone said "ghostbusters"

somehow I got the reference

flamboyant mallards

have dull females

who nevertheless are beautiful

flock of coots in the grass

or some sort of clover

like make-believe

gull wing manoeuvres

after one breath-taking stunt

a duck shows he didn't like it

that little diving bird

he floats and dives so joyously

 wish I knew his name

armada of comorants swims past

stiff north wind keeps

the water birds lively

scores of snowy egrets

one great egret alone on an island

totemic




ducks have different
iridescent colors
over their heads




like today's street signs
like the free floating ultraviolet
I saw in the trees




 black velvet hood
 monochrome duck's partner pulls up
for a second I thought we had a thing