catapult magazine

White Lights on a Thornbush

by Sarah Lynn Phillips

I

Africa’s darkness -
Pushed aside
As foreign hands
Take a simple manger
From hut to hut.

Passing seasons bring
Transformed drumbeats
And fearless smiles of freedom
As Emmanuel Himself
Shines in forgiven hearts.

II

Little children’s memories reach
Past empty stockings and their mother’s quiet tears
Across the ocean
To scenes of family gatherings and roast beef dinners
Where snowflakes and tinsel dance and sparkle.

And in the African night
Their foreign voices sing
The old familiar carols
With a string of white lights on a thorn bush
To celebrate the arrival of the Light of the World.