New Poetry: ‘December 28th’ by Angela Graham
After Christmas – always – Childermas:*
Slaughter of Innocents; Threat Neutralised.
The Prince of War, glistening with success,
allures us. This, he says, is what you want.
Not a stable, sheep-herding losers, a star.
[* In the biblical account of the birth of Christ at Bethlehem, King Herod has all the male infants of the town killed in an attempt to exterminate this newly born rival.
The ‘Slaughter of the Innocents’ is commemorated on 28th December, the feast day known as Childermas.]
Photo of a detail of the floor of Siena Cathedral by the author.