5)Seven Nativities by James Metelak

Seven Nativities

 

I.  Madonna with Child

 

When she looks into his little eyes

She sees the face of the accuser,

The face of her pain, rejection, judgement, and her abuser,

But when he smiles she also sees

The loving face of God.

 

II.  Christus Victor

 

What child is this descending from his billowing starship?
The Conquistador from across the sea,

An alien white face on a white horse

Bearing plague, spitting fire

He descends on the land

The people perish,
Face of a Roman father

Spreading terror

And then communion.

And eventually siring the divine mestiza.

 

III.  Incarnation

 

The first time she looked down at him,

She cried, when she saw his alien eyes.

Family said “Get rid of it,”

Saw in him only problem, disgrace, and pain,

Medical bills and defect,

She wandered in the mystery,

What’s wrong with him?

What’s wrong with me?

We struggle to understand

The divinity in imperfection.

 

IV.  The Annunciation

 

He came into a virgin womb;

She cried and tried to smile

And mask her shame.

 

Full of love and full of grace,

If they could only see her,

The divinity beyond her sexuality.

 

But like Augustine, they use her

Then discard her as vice and temptress.

 

V. Nativity

 

They call themselves the native sons,

The colonizer aliens,

Of course, there were earlier migrations.

To keep America great

We must keep out all Palestinians.

 

Here on the reservation or refugee camp, a baby is born

To be taken from its parents to be saved

At a boarding school, or in a foster family.

Son of God and son of man.

 

He will be crucified between the margins

Of the crossed staves of

Poverty and racist exclusion

But no one is listening, there is no one to hear his

“I am finished.”

And thus, we lose our salvation.

 

VI.  Immanuel

 

Jesus came to the US fleeing the Maras:

A Honduran wholesale murder of the innocents

Subsidized by the Empire’s glut for drugs and gangster presidents.

His F/father worked in construction.

Joseph and Mary were unable to get documents,

Deported twice, they then sent Jesus ahead:

Cages were prepared, then shelters,

But the locals said “not in our town”

And shut them down.

Too old for DACA, and born abroad,

He was unable to study officially, but learned

Drywall and Bible from his uncle.

One Sunday he walked up to the pulpit,

Started preaching, the deacons called security,

Asked for credentials, the cops got involved.

We deported God,

And his body lies in the shape of a cross

On the corner of a San Pedro Sula street.

 

VII. Orphaned God

 

We left you on the street

We left you in the system

We left you in the refugee camp

We left you at the border,

We left you, Imago Dei.

 

We searched far and wide for our saviour complex:

South Korea, Guatemala, Ethiopia, Kyrgyzstan,
We paid the bribes for an exotic baby

That fit our narrative.

 

But you, God, were too old.

You were too scarred.

Your nose was too big,

Your opinions, trauma, and defects too strong.

It didn’t seem like you would fit into our family.

 

So we offered you our bribes and tithes,

We built orphanages and group homes and juvenile facilities…

No nearer, please.

As innkeepers, we put you in the stable

Receiving God as animal,

For the Word to become flesh,

To keep it alive,

We must invite it to dwell among us

In homes and hearts.

 

 

*****

 James Metelak is a poet, activist, singer-songwriter, and photographer currently based in Colorado.  His 2 books of poetry are available on Amazon Kindle, his music is available on Bandcamp, and his photography is on Instagram.