Sunday, July 1, 2018

The Plight of the Refugee

According to the Gospel of Matthew, soon after the visit from the Magi, Joseph was warned that he and his family should flee their homeland and go to Egypt to seek refuge from King Herod's attempt to kill their infant son.

As we remember the refugee, and those immigrants who have much to contribute, I am re-posting a poem inspired by the French artist Luc Olivier Merson. Egypt knew not whom she held, yet she kept the family intact.




Rest on the Flight into Egypt

How still the air must be this night –
A wisp of smoke
Moves straight to the sky
As the fugitive fire 
Slowly dies.

How still the night
As the light of heaven
Rests in Egypt’s ancient arms.

How still the night
As donkey grazes and
Joseph sleeps
While beyond the distant river
Some petty tyrant
Fashions weapons of war.

And a newly blessed mother
Slumbers in the protective Sabbath
Of a watchful Sphinx.

                                                 ~ CK


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Image: Rest on the Flight into Egypt, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Artist: Luc Olivier Merson (French, 1846–1920)
Medium: Oil on canvas
Date: 1879



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