Poem: Weeping With Rachel In Ramah

Weeping With Rachel In Ramah

Scholars tell us there was no historical

    evidence of Bible's Slaughter of Innocents

       in Bethlehem from Herod's fear,

        and it was only a myth to have

        Jesus come across as the new Moses

      by Matthew's church finding solace

   when their friend died before his mother.

Burying child is obscene, a perversion

    of all we have tried to do as parents

       when we used to put them to bed

           kiss them good night, sleep tight.

          All the worry we did, all the advice

      all the cheering, the yelling,

    sighing and crying

all the mistakes,

    all the missed opportunities we wasted,

        all the hugs deferred and missed again,

            all the secrets shared and kept,

            all the birthdays still to come,

        all the joys still to be found,

    all the what-if's crowding in.

We were not able to fully protect them

     from all the threats of inattention,

       disease, broken hearts and violence.

           Yet we give thanks for all the love given

            and received to and from products of love,

       hope and grace of these precious gifts

    in this, our fleeting gifted universe

where it is no myth to join Rachel weeping in Ramah.