Allegorical Holiday

I wrote this poem about 35 years ago, soon after the birth of my son... seems to have some Christmas resonance (& maybe Hanukkah & Eid as well).

LITTLE SUN

Only just arrived from the Milky Way

and still dwelling in the mountains,

the soft hills of the small planet

of your mother – you can relax,

your cradle snug in the branches;

all around you vague motions,

sounds of mingling birds or people;

over your head a bright mobile, swaying

and glittering like a sailing ship.

Only just lifted from the river,

still rocking with the evening ripples,

at that quiet hour when the earth

settles down to dream – who are you?

An echo of some voice, a reflection

at the water’s edge, in Egypt,

in the wilderness, in the Milky Way –

your little boat bumping the shoreline,

floating to the ocean sound asleep.

Only just delivered from your absence,

lifted from the mineshaft, from empty space;

only now beginning to awaken, to remember

all these familiar rhythms; just lifted

from the water and now lifted and held

aloft in your father’s arms – still

almost weightless, but gaining momentum,

little planet, little sun, coming down

to bear the full weight of the earth.