Tell me quiet and steadfast Joseph

Does your sturdy heart quake?

On this night forlorn

when there’s no shelter to be found

From thunder of the bombs

In Maiduguri. And Aleppo. And Donetsk

Tell me Joseph, does your heart quake?

Tell me meek and gentle Mary

While you hold your newborn son

Do you see him snatched away

In Chibok. In Gaza. In Kobane.

Do you fear your visitors bearing more

than Gold and Frankincense and Myrrh

From Freetown. And Conakry. And Monrovia

Tell me Mary, does your mother’s heart break?

Little baby Jesus fast asleep

do the swaddling linens hold you safe

From the hunger and the cold and religion’s bitter gall

In Mubi. And Sydney. And Baghdad

Can the cocoon be a shield

From the toxic racism

In Ferguson. And New York. And London

tell me Baby Jesus. Do you feel the pain

While in Herod’s house majestic