one of the Orient’s oldest
and most beautiful important cities
inhabited for thousands of years
by generations after generations
of craftsmen, merchants, artists, dynasties,
famous architects of all styles and religions,
the western end of the old silk road
home to over 2 million citizens
until not long ago

a few weeks of modern warfare
were enough to destroy
what hundreds of generations had built
for their living as well as their sense of beauty

     rockets exploded churches, temples, and mosques
     artillery pulverized ancient palaces and new houses

     barrel bombs and poison gas
     killed the people

on tv we now see acres of urban wasteland
miles of rubble with no life
except for occasional tanks and soldiers
proclaiming victory over these ruins
in the name of a dictator whose regime
has become a puppet in global power games
no matter what the cost in lives or things

     to destroy is easy
     building things up is hard work

     with friends like these
     who needs enemies

it makes you wonder
that Christianity’s important celebration
    welcoming the wondrous birth of the savior
    by a ****** mother
seems to have become mostly a holiday for children

they happily believe in Santa and his reindeers
    or in the Christ child & its servant
    depending on the region and its customs
expecting the delivery of gifts with shiny eyes
accepting the miracle of sleighs & animals
flying across the sky without questioning

adults nod knowingly & smile

yet there are many
    children at heart
who still believe that some benevolent high power
will shower them with presents from above
if only they  retain their sense of awe and wonder
keep their miraculous beliefs of yonder

images of the savior’s birth abound
in Christian lands

many rooms in many museums
have been filled with paintings of the scene
over many centuries

he
and his ****** mother
and his consenting father
in a manger
shepherds and sweet animals around

33 years later

what does it mean
    that he shouldered the guilt of mankind
    and died for us on the cross

what guilt

why did he have to die

born innocent by a ******
    visited by the holy spirit

the archetypal story
    of human suffering
begins with his birth

and has not ended since

If people step on my toes
I kick their shins

whatever happened to the quiet time
of advent before Christmas day or eve
is certainly remarkable

no other time of our year
has managed to become so  noisy,
commercialized, stuffed full of special sales
with permahyped unique occasions
that only last for a few hours

Black Friday has become national hysteria day
people camping out overnight before the supermarkets
to be the first  
     waving on television
diving into the pool of wonderful things on sale
victoriously placing them under their Xmas trees

the stress this timely acquisition
requires from the donors
just adds another extra to the planning of their days

no time is left for quiet contemplation

and so
what used to be the day to celebrate the birth
of our Christian savior
has turned into a goods exchange
where size and value of bright packages
are meant to substitute
affections muted by the daily chores

maybe a more spiritual mood
might take us back to the original wonder

a legendary birth in that old world of yonder

If you want to see the light,
OPEN YOUR EYES!