25. XII. 1993

(Eskimo Nativity, with Joseph in the back
tending to his team of huskies and the Northern
Lights flashing in the sky, by William Kurelek,
1927-1977, Canadian artist and writer, from his
nativities set in Canada.)

What if Jesus were born now?

25. XII. 1993

For a miracle, take one shepherd’s sheepskin, throw
in a pinch of now, a grain of long ago,
and a handful of tomorrow. Add by eye
a little chunk of space, a piece of sky,

and it will happen. For miracles, gravitating
to earth, know just where people will be waiting,
and eagerly will find the right address
and tenant, even in a wilderness.

Or if you’re leaving home, switch on a new
four-pointed star, then, as you say adieu,
to light a vacant world with steady blaze
and follow you forever with its gaze.

~ Joseph Brodsky (1940-1996), Russian-born poet, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1987, from his collection Nativity Poems