Eve of the Nativity, 2025

 

Christmas Green

Just now the earth recalls His stunning visitation.  Now

the earth and scattered habitants attend to what is possible: that He

of a morning entered this, our meagered circumstance, and so

relit the fuse igniting life in them, igniting life in all the dim

surround.  And look, the earth adopts a kindly áffect.  Look,

we almost see our long estrangement from it overcome.

The air is scented with the prayer of pines, the earth is softened

for our brief embrace, the fuse continues bearing to all elements

a curative despite the grave, and here within our winter this, 

the rising pulse, bears still the promise of our quickening.

                                                        Scott Cairns

                                                        from Slow Pilgrim: The Collected Poems