Straw

The envy of kings

The starriest thing

The babe that sent wise men a-wandering

The one who was odd 

Born of a woman and God

And set prophets and priestesses pondering,

They laid his sweet head

In a haphazard bed

While a star shone afresh in the night sky.

He nestled in straw

Did they sleep? Did they aww?

Did his dad stay awake to shoo fruit flies?

Was there a line of onlookers

Or some Bethlehem hookers

Bringing his spent mom a hot plate?

Did she curl up on the floor

And sleep deeply and snore?

Or did she worry, and hover, and stay up late?

The only details the story gives us are these: 

She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them. (Luke 2:7)

If I was writing this, there are so many more things I'd want to include. Who helped at the birth? Was Mary terrified? Did Joseph faint like the dads in those 1930s movies, or was he helpful, or nowhere nearby at all?

Bethlehem was crowded, and there were probably lots of other people who couldn't find a place to sleep too. Did they get in the way? Did they share food? Did Mary tell any of them about the angel's visit and her cousin's baby?

 

But Luke, instead, just tells us this.

He was wrapped in strips of cloth, and he was laid in a manger.

When I am grasping at straws

It shifts something in me

To remember his first sleep

Was on a bed of straw.

The one who won't break a bent reed

Bent, himself, so low

To say lo, I am with you

(I am! with you!)

Always.