Mary Counted His Fingers and Toes

When the Universe-Maker came as a babe

into the very world he had made,

his mother counted his fingers and toes,

kissing each one, and said,

“He’s perfect!”

Fingers that had flicked stars to life

and toes that had stepped across light.

Infinite winding into finite,

this babe who was God’s Delight.

When the Universe-Crosser came to his own,

he chose a tiny womb

and a birth into a lowly trough

fit only for animal feed,

as if he were an odd aside.

And Mary kissed his eyes,

eyes that had seen the universe arise.

This babe who had sown

wombs, animals and seed

and made stars, moon and skies,

a God we could see with our own eyes.