my life has been surrounded 
by culture and tradition 
few surprises anymore 

but today when i nodded 
at the woman unloading 
a cart filled with flowers 
bright yellow blooms 

she told me they were 
“for momma mary and jesus” 
and my heart lit up 
at the wonderful shift 
from “mother mary” 
with all her baggage 
and icons and paintings 

to “momma mary with child” 
not in a stylized manger 
but there on a hip 
while soup bubbles 
bread rises and browns 

momma mary, bouncing babies 
on her knees, oblivious 
to what she will become 
through centuries of being 
worshipped, not for this 
not for sweeping floors 
cooking and cleaning 
not for teaching jesus 
his first lessons in love 

Bio: j.lewis