If Bethlehem were here today,
  Or this were very long ago,
There wouldn't be a winter time
  Nor any cold or snow.

I'd run out through the garden gate,
  And down along the pasture walk;
And off beside the cattle barns
  I'd hear a kind of gentle talk.

I'd move the heavy iron chain
  And pull away the wooden pin;
I'd push the door a little bit
  And tiptoe very softly in.

The pigeons and the yellow hens
  And all the cows would stand away;
Their eyes would open wide to see
  A lady in the manger hay,
If this were very long ago
  And Bethlehem were here today.

And Mother held my hand and smiled--
  I mean the lady would--and she
Would take the woolly blankets off
  Her little boy so I could see.

His shut-up eyes would be asleep,
  And he would look just like our John,
And he would be all crumpled, too,
  And have a pinkish color on.

I'd watch his breath go in and out.
  His little clothes would all be white.
I'd slip my finger in his hand
  To feel how he could hold it tight.

And she would smile and say, "Take care,"
  The mother, Mary, would, "Take care";
And I would kiss his little hand
  And touch his hair.

While Mary put the blankets back
  The gentle talk would soon begin.
And when I'd tiptoe softly out
  I'd meet the Wise Men going in.


This poem is in the public domain.