Living Nativity

They have filled roles from Willie Loman to Lear,
from Atticus Finch to The Gentleman Caller,

convincing themselves and each other that they are
to be believed. So now as the innkeeper,

Joseph, the kings, and shepherds-charcoal-bearded-
they have rehearsed their easy entrances,

when and how to kneel, where to place the myrrh
and frankincense. But the virgin is always

a secret until the last hour, her identity known
only by the headmaster who has chosen her

and the housemother who whisks away the prettiest
from the candle-lit Christmas banquet

to brush her already-brushed hair and drape her
in della robbia blue-made soft by years

of other girls. She is placed as they were
center stage where a spotlight reveals her

gazing marble-like into the manger-nothing
for her to know beyond the fact of being

chosen, nothing for her to practice,
having learned already this stillness.