once born

and now we must
go to Egypt
for
a while
or forever should the Lord decide

mountains
vales
and
deserts of empire ancient
than the one the called us to the father’s
home in Bethlehem
in
time for this holy birth

though isn’t any baby’s birth
a holy time

go-to of other nations when famine
was famous
our ancestors
certainly
the survival and the sanctity of tribes
to
have a people with what
became a wicked past
and then
a hopeful future

and what shall we see there
and hear
and smell and all our senses know
along the Nile over
the land
and in alien cities there
which
of course are theirs for
home
while we are the refugees

and God knows what we’ll have
of home again

if
dreams and miracles
the rumors of war
shall drive
us

c l couch


6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains.
Matthew 24:6-8
(NIV)

photo by ian borg on Unsplash