It muffles sounds till thoughts alone ring out; the faint drumbeat
Of racing hearts strives to compete,
Ice-withered words evaporate like dew drops in the summer heat.
As thoughts grow loud the ancient fears intrude;
No doubt the villager in olden times, on pathway rude
Was just the same, as in his heart a feeling grew
That sky above was frozen with God’s tears, held back while Man’s will filled the interlude;
That if Man sinned, and to his sins did not repentance lend,
Then God would fast unleash those tears, till at the end
All sin and misery would frozen be in time, until some friend
Came down from Heaven, with innocence for sin to make amend.
Then in a manger rude and bare,
Among the oxen and the beasts, a mother fair
Would tend her Son; and nothing could compare
To Mary’s vigilance, defying Tempter’s snare.
And so her radiant love, with Joseph’s calm protective glow
Did halt, reverse the freezing temperature; with cattle’s low
It formed a spreading ring, a warm halo
To reach out to the world, still prisoned deep in winter’s snow.