Christmas Rose

                  The Christmas Rose

      As steel is smelted from the iron ore,

      And coal is compressed from the common sod,

      As oil leaks out of sand and, from earth's core,

      Uranium erupts to etch the face of God--

      As diamonds are pulled from lesser clay,

      And emeralds wash from alluvial dirt,

      As oystered pearls in ocean beds display,

      And gold and silver clog the veins of earth--

      As corn crops draw from dust their bounteous yields,

      And oak trees lift themselves from roots earthbound,

      As flaxes flourish in their flooded fields,

      And orchids raise their grace from foul ground--

          On Christmas Day, the seed of Heaven's birth

          Was drawn from out the tainted womb of earth.

-1983