Advent to Candlemas (Vol. 1)

Joseph's Reverie

1. I sometimes forgot at the wood shavings' fall,
As He carefully reckoned the line of a wall,
That an angel had called him the ruler of all.

2. But I never forgot what His mother had said
Of the angel's request and the price on their head
And I dreamed of stones flying and my love lying dead.

3. And I dreamed of the slaughter of babes at the breast
And I dreamed of the pyramids' uneasy guests
And from dreamings and angels I never had rest.

4. And I never had rest as my son strode the land
With a smile on his lips and a staff in his hand;
A hand-to-mouth preacher of royal command.

5. But the king that connived and the crowd that reviled
Were as sane as a plumb line and wolfishly wild;
And the priests would not pray at the death of my child.

6. And the death of my God's Son was for the world's good
And he rose from the tomb; but I wish that he could
Have used anything other than nails and wood.

7. I sometimes forget with my nails and my wood
The degree of His suffering as well as I should;
But his mother was special, so she understood.