Christmas Eve, Las Vegas, New Mexico, 1939

I see your tiny, mittened hand held tight

Within your father’s that wears not a glove;

The luminarias burn glad and bright,

Their crackling flames below, the stars above.

 

The spires of “Montezuma’s Castle” loom

Against the frozen sky, whilst your small form

Processes with the faithful through the gloom,

As silence yields to music, cold to warm.

 

“Venite exultemus Domino”

Is chanted by the exiled monks and priests;

The star within your heart that’s now aglow,

That watched the Magi, shepherds, and the beasts,

 

Now lights my way, your son’s, these many years

Since Mary took you from this vale of tears.

 

© Joseph Charles MacKenzie. All rights reserved.