Christmas Concert

After the women's voices, after

the tenor's crescendoed refrain,

after the youth bell choir, faces

gleaming with the bells,

one child sings.

Doctors said he'd not talk,

nor walk, nor stand erect.

tall and straight under the nativity; alone,

hands hard-clasped; his voice,

with effort, strong and clear:

Light and life to all he brings....

Walking home, small in new snow,

white breath in my lungs,

I hear again his voice, a crystal

Christmas vignette, simply saying:

Begin.