It was a couple of years back when my man came down from the wold,
And the joyous light from heaven shone brightly in his eye;
For he had seen a choir of angels split the midnight sky;
Their song had lit the darkness, their dance had warmed the cold.

We wedded later on that year: his strong arms did enfold
My arcing back. His sweet lips gave silence to my cry
Of ecstasy that equalled that angel song on high,
And gently kissed our first born boy upon his head of gold.

That lad, he sleeps at last. And my man is out, so bold:
With pitchfork and with hedging knife, Herod’s soldiers to defy.
And I have sung the song those angels sang - a final lullaby;
Of love, of hope, of kingdom come, and a fitful sleep cajoled.

"Adonai, I beseech thee: cherish this childsoul: keep him as thine own
And understand the evil a man might do before his son is slain by Rome."

Y.