YES WE NEVER FOUND JESUS

I was there
the night
Jesus fell to earth

a great storm
announced
itself

and a glow-in-the-dark
plastic Christ on a cross
wrenched itself free from

its nails
leaving its hands
and feet behind

before it could be saved
our Golden Retriever
snapped it up

and escaped
the house
with Christ in its mouth

when at midnight
it had returned
from the wood

it was without Jesus
having  either lost
or buried Him

we questioned the dog
but it
wasn't saying anything

Jesus
was never found
even after all this time

all four of us
made up stories
of how now

He lived his life
and whether He
enjoyed His freedom

perhaps as a woodsman
saving Little Red Riding
from the wolf

or as a hermit
charming
the birds

or telling parables
to a troop of toadstools that
had grown up around Him

or
preaching to
a curious fox

guess he was happier
now at one with nature
and all his creation