CHRISTMAS of JOHN of PATMOS

Isaiah, the prophet, the author of the "fifth Gospel," speaks:
For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)

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Luke, the Gospel writer, speaks. Or, rather, he has an angel of the Lord speak:
But the angel said to [shepherds in the field], “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger. (Luke 2:10-12)

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John of Patmos, exile, recipient of the Revelation of Jesus the Christ, speaks:
[A] woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars...gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron. But her child was snatched away and taken to God and to his throne; and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, so that there she can be nourished for one thousand two hundred sixty days. (Revelation 12:1, 5)

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A child born in the desert
the wilderness the haunted places
the edge of the town
spirited away before the powers
can descend upon the child
and the child's mother
with teeth of swords

before one beast or another
can strike

stars tumble like
flakes of snow
but perhaps this is not apocalypse
rather the vision the voice
of an angel with wings
held before a face of flame

and all will burn
all will melt and drain away

the cold of November
where there is glimmer in the waning light—
Rembrandt or Goya as the dark settles
things which John the Exile cannot know

—form presses forth
—body expresses itself

this is presence in the midst of frost
and the fire to feign it

—Orion rises in the
—early night-touched morn

becomes the darkness
of December

where John raises his hand
to the dark sky
to pluck a remaining starry fruit
from one constellation or another

to hold this ember
against his lips

to seal the words
in his being

to have flame
live as though light and life

—one more dream
—one more dream.