Poem

With the toss of a black lace shawl,
a doll wrapped in a bit of blue blanket
and a half-empty laundry basket,
my granddaughter, at 6,
transforms our basement into Bethlehem.

She instructs me to play a plodding,
slightly dimwitted Joseph while
her older sister flies in for several brief
(but striking) appearances
as an angel
a shepherd
a wise-woman
and one of Herod’s soldiers hunting
Rachel’s babies.

Dramatic scenes that cause the young director
to forget her own lines as the play becomes real
before her awestruck eyes.

Later, when I ask if the newborn Jesus
is doing OK now, she says confidently
(while gently patting his holy blanketed back):

“Of course! he’s the son of God!
And he’s grown a lot.
He’s asleep right now, dreaming of
fields full of flowers.
I know because that’s what I prayed for.”

Leona Dueck Penner is a member of Charleswood Mennonite Church in Winnipeg, Manitoba.