Crowns and palaces

Kings in purple curtains

with crowns from last years crackers

Proud kings, shy kings,

loud and quiet kings

with packages wrapped

in velvet or shiny paper

carried reverently

or tossed about

to be presented

to a mother

whose head dress has come adrift

and who holds her baby upside down

while her husband smiles mischievously

distracted by the angelic throng

of tutu-clad nursery children

with sparkling wands

bringing Good News to all.

The scuffle between the camel and the sheep

is soon forgotten 

as these angel voices strike up

"Away in a manger".

And the adults, with a tear in their eye

think they have truly seen portrayed

the Christmas story.

Is it any wonder

we think of this baby God

as benign and ineffective

born in such cloying sentimentality?

Divorced from the reality

of crushing poverty

and oppressive regime.

Ignoring the fears of a pregnant teenager

giving birth and then taking to the road

with her partner 

not much older.

The angels that visited them

were scary, not cute.

And the kings - well meaning

but almost got them killed.

No wonder baby Jesus

grew up tough

and still hangs out

with the poor and exiled

in our communities

and cries at what we have done

to the Christmas story.