The recent, the receding, and the ancient
Were the playwrights, the ghosts, the stage.
A few dozen brightly dressed, brightly lit,
Warm and well-fed schoolchildren gathered
On the risers. No little matchstick girls here.
No question the girls and boys belonged
In classroom together, no question the shades
From palest pink to mahogany belonged
In classroom together, no question children
Whose first languages were English, Spanish,
Hindi, and Vietnamese belonged in classroom
Together. The carols were Christian, the silly
Songs secular. We wish you a Merry Christmas,
Regardless of what you, we, or our parents
Believe about angels, virginity, and gods born
As mortal flesh, wrapped in cloth, in straw.
The pianist could not make it. His home
In Paradise had just been devoured by fire.
A girl who was scheduled for chemo next week
Led a carol for hospitalized children, children
Suffering everywhere, “not so lucky as us.”
Hard not to think then of detention centers
And the border, driving distance south of this.
Or maybe the parents, so many dependent
On tourists and the Park Service in Zion,
Were more focused on whether government
Shutdown was as imminent as the day’s news
Kept suggesting. All kept their own dreads.
The scene, meanwhile, seemed like a recreation
Of a Christmas greeting-card America from
A half-century and more ago, but envisioned
By a contemporary, streaming television show,
With improbably more diversity (for that era)
And improbably more candor (for that era)
But the same carols, the same angels. Speaking
Of which, daughter, looking angelic despite
Or especially because of her missing teeth,
Lisped a voice-over, her big number, assuring
Us that not only were angels among us, but
We could be those angels ourselves. The dark
Soul in the front row nodded along in the glow
Of the recording phones and tablets. Yes,
Oh yes, you’re so right, daughter, as well as
Delivering your right lines like a real natural,
Like an angel. Angels are among us, and we
Are those angels, or own those angels, angels
Belonging to us as flames belong to candles.
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