ENTRY ROOM

Hated getting out of bed
that winter I worked for Bob Kurtz
whose farm was up the road a ways
Hated getting up two hours dark
before the school bus came
so I could help Bob milk his damn cows
Hated what I had to do --
pour feed into the troughs
lug steaming pails to the milkhouse
fork manure into the spreader
But mostly hated
the getting up and going

Icy air hit me as I left the house
swung my legs onto my bike
lunged into the darkness and the wind
the cold amazed me every time
stunned my throat my lungs
burrowed through my clothing to the skin
I shivered--shook--ground
my teeth in useless freezing rage

Strain up the hill and--at long last--
see the gable light beckon like the star the wise men followed
park the bike outside, yank open the stable door
cattle warmth surrounds--embraces--blesses
I sob with glad relief

You're late again says Bob
but merry Christmas anyway
he tosses me a ribboned Hershey bar and grins

Some say it's sad that Christ the king
had just a cattle trough for crib
I say a warm stable on a bone-cold morning
feels like the entry room to heaven

Maybe--for the Child--the entry room to earth