They had little money and lived in a house like a shack,
Old weathered boards and a rickety porch out back,
A roof that leaked a lot for the planks weren't nailed right,
Most of it derelict for years ever since the old Covid blight.
The trees that surrounded it had lost their leaves for Winter,
They were prone to snap easily and always left a splinter,
Sprinkled with a layer of snow they reach like ghostly fingers,
Towards the home a couple shares where true love now lingers.
Joseph is a carpenter who fell on hard times and lost his work,
He went crazy with the isolation and almost went berserk,
Covid had him furloughed for months that stretched into years,
Moved to the house as he lost his own it's not as bad as it appears.
Mary was a teacher but the school shut down with no kids,
Her job was always off and on so was always on the skids,
She had to quit her zoom classes when the baby bump grew,
Inevitable when her phone broke and nothing else would do.
The two of them had met online in a group communal quiz,
Then met up in a social bubble for an outdoor glass of fizz,
And one thing led to another despite social distancing rules,
It was all so spontaneous there'd been love not condoms the fools.
Joseph and Mary were well suited and quickly moved in together,
Learned to accept their fate and faced all kinds of stormy weather,
He with his goatee all grown out and her with a belly to burst,
A proper little set up in an icy deserted
home that felt the worst.
They made the most of what they had no panic buying for them,
Like most after Covid they preferred this distance of a gem,
A find in isolation safer for the baby they lovingly thought,
So they'd packed up a rucksack each and then a bus was caught.
They've fixed her up in a month and strung up coloured lights,
During the day it's plain but it really looks welcoming in nights,
He fixed the generator that had been dead and gathering dust,
And his wife Mary had managed to remove layers of rust.
Under the beautiful sky where Jupiter and Saturn now align,
It's been four hundred years they last converged it's a sign,
This is the night he will be born this is finally the welcoming hour,
A glorious astral proclamation comes in form of a meteor shower.
Snow is on the ground outside but Mary is giving birth within,
Joseph helps having watched YouTube and many blogs has seen,
He gives her words of encouragement and clearly in his eyes,
It's still a miracle this thing called life and delivers his surprise.
A healthy baby boy who screams at the top of his voice,
They call him Joshua they feel it's a fitting modern choice,
And wrap him in a cloth blanket still warm from the stove,
Place him in a manger Joseph made of wood from the apple grove.
The two of them were overjoyed and held hands still in awe,
He was a Christmas marvel the sparkle in his blue eyes they saw,
And he seemed to cast a glow that felt like sweet peaceful grace,
Held their gaze and smiled as beauty lit his enraptured face.
Here is their second chance one the whole world can share,
For love and greater understanding to bring all together in care,
Here is the hope of the future in our coming young generation,
Behold the rapture on his parents' faces a new born sensation.
This is my gift to you when worry and strife may upset you,
God bestows his love on all of us even the undeserving few,
The spark of life burns within us you only have to search,
Proof lyes here in a manger under the shadow of a silver birch.
Golden is the look they have for their little son full of glee,
As candles of frankincense and myrrh burn down so slowly,
And the house smells glorious to them as birds alight on the sill,
Pecking at the windows a chorus of approval in the cold chill.
This is the home they chose but it was long ago used as a stable,
There wasn't much left of the old place save for an old table,
Which is strewn with festive cheer just Nature brought indoors,
To brighten up the place, garlands for surfaces, wreaths for doors.
Praise be to Heaven for the wonder and glory we envisage,
May somewhere this be happening my words leave this page,
And spring to life and fill your heart with joy at this thought,
Thank you for following my story of a modern retelling I brought.