incarnation

Down in the gutter by Immaculate Conception school,
i discover a tan, two-inch, plastic figurine of Jesus.
“Jesus-of-the-car-tire,” i call him:
His pedestal and fancy mantle,
chipped and flecked with grime,
clearly aren’t in the pristine condition
some Christian toymaker intended.
His right forefinger still points to heaven,
though, and his left hand rests just below
a brightly shining sacred heart.  Don’t
think he earned either gesture until he
dropped from some pupil’s pocket,
got stepped on, ignored, and eventually
run over.
Yet that child tearfully searched
hours for him, combed the whole route
from home to school:  not because the Lord
looks regal in His heavenly robes and sovereign stance
but because he’s light and small enough
to nestle in someone’s pocket.

-- Patricia Campbell Carlson