On Boston Common a red star
Gleams, wired to a tall Ulmus
Americana. Magi near
The domed State House.
Old Joseph holds an alpenstock.
Two waxen oxen flank the Child.
A black sheep leads the shepherds’ flock.
Mary looks mild.
Angels-more feminine and douce
Than models from Bonwit’s or Jay’s,
Haloes lustrous as Sirius-
Gilt trumpets raise.
By S. S. Pierce, by S. S. Pierce,
The red-nosed, blue-caped women ring
For money. Lord, the crowds are fierce!
There’s caroling
On Winter Street, on Temple Place.
Poodles are baking cookies in
Filene’s show windows. Grant us grace,
Donner, Blitzen,
And all you Santa’s deer who browse
By leave of the Park Commission
On grass that once fed Boston cows.
In unison
On Pinckney, Mount Vernon, Chestnut,
The wreathed doors open to the crowd.
Noel! Noel! No mouth is shut.
Off key and loud
The populace sings toward the sill
Of windows with odd violet panes.
O Little City on a Hill!
The cordial strains
Of bellringers and singers rouse
Frost-bitten pigeons, eddy forth
From Charles Street to the Custom House,
From South Station to North.
—————
The End
And that’s the End of the Poem
© Poetry Monster, 2021.
Poetry Monster — the ultimate repository of world poetry.
Poetry Monster — the multilingual library of poetic works. Here you’ll find original poems, poetry translations, ancient verses, ballads and even folk tales.
Poetry Monster (or even The Poetry Monster) — is also an international multilingual community of poets and poetry connoisseurs. Join us:
Some external links: The Bat’s Poetry Cave. — Fledermaus’s poetry site. Talking Writing Monster. — the irreverent and irrelevant chatter on subjects both serious and not quite. A free for all board. You can scribble anything on it without registration (but it doesn’t let spammers in). You can even post your poems. Qwant.com. — a search engine from France. It’s an alternative because there are a few alternatives, like Bing, Duckduckgo, and Ecosia. And there is Yandex, the ultimate language-oriented search engine for the Russophone world. Commercial Links: Russian Commerce – the foreign trade assistance agency Other links: Poems and poetry in Russian (if you are reading this in English, as you obviously are, then you’d have to switch the language, the language switch is on the menu. More on languages)
