A Child in Starlight

(Pietà by Luis de Morales)

There is a child,

A new-born child—

A rosy, new-born child.

The child whimpers—

All children do.

And the mother takes the child to her breast.

Then it is quiet.

So is every child.

The roof is not over tight—

Not all roofs are.

And the star puts

Its silver muzzle through the chink,

And steals up to the little one’s head.

Stars like children.

And the mother looks up at the star

And understands—

All mothers understand.

And presses her frightened baby

To her breast—

But the child sucks quietly in starlight:

All children suck in starlight.

It knows not yet about the cross:

No child does.

~Elmer Diktonius (translation: Martin Allwood)