Christmas Poem 2008

I scan the sky for the Great Bear;
whose tail forms a pouring vessel.

Visible to those who choose
to dwell under northern skies.

Eyes finger its outer rim; search
for Polaris; seek confirmation of identity.

I long to partake of the constancy
of this star like ancient mariners

who navigated the seas from
its unflappable position. I know

that cartographers drew lines from its axis;
scrawled directional symbols on rolled

parchment and divided this world
into quadrants. Yet, under darkness's

blanket on this hallowed eve ,
I think only of the babe

eyes wide in the manger,
gazing upon this same

this bright star;
and am comforted.