The Flight to Egypt

The Flight to Egypt
Holy Innocents; Matthew 2:13-23
We keep our dreaming shuttered in our sleep,
but Joseph was a man who trusted dreams. 
They fled into the night. Their loss was deep,
but not as great as woe from Herod’s schemes.
Behind them, parents wept for children dead.
In Egypt, they at least still had their son,
though home was lost, and work and often bread,
and speech and common knowledge were undone.
As refugees, no kin would offer aid;
no roof, no meal, no job to ease their way..
I wonder in their plight were bargains made
with wise men’s gifts, on some dark, hopeless day.
Then angel dreams urged Jesus to return,
What wisdom from that time did Jesus learn?
	Barbara Messner 27/12/2022