Joseph's Song
I sing of my joy
and my fear
I am a father
not the father
my son is God's son, too
with arms and hands
chiselled strong
in the carpenter's shop
I hold my son
who has held the sun
and held heaven even
I sing of my joy
and my fear
the angel's word
he will walk with you
and teach you how to walk
from a land faraway
magi came with gifts
gold frankincense myrrh
gold for the king
frankincense for the priest
myrrh for the tomb
I sing of my joy
and my fear
my son will know
glory beyond words
agony beyond words
and my thick arms
cannot keep him
from meeting life and death
my son God's son
born to bear life out
of death for us all
I sing of my joy
and my fear
Mary's Song
My name is Mary
and I must sing with joy
for my son who is
Joseph's son
God's son
your son, too.
I wish only to sing of my delight
but a maggot hides in my heart:
as my son has been given to me
he must be given to others.
The angel Gabriel told me
the Lord is with you
but I knew little of the angel's words
(to talk with an angel is
to dream while not sleeping).
Now I know in my son's birth
I proclaim
not the Lord is with me
but the Lord is with us.
My son can never be my son alone:
he is the son of heaven given
for the sons and daughters of earth.
I cannot sing about the night
my son was conceived, a night
I remember but remember not.
From an onyx sky the stars spoke
of distant worlds beyond the sky.
Always so much I do not know.
Why have I found favour with God?
I am extraordinary only for being ordinary
nothing more
but God has chosen me
and I am glad.
I have waited with my people
generation after generation
for the Messiah, the Dividic King
who will reign without end
I have borne a son
who will one day bear me
I have borne a son
who will one day be my Lord
I have borne a son
who will one day be my Saviour.
My son
the Lord of the universe
cries for my milk
my son who has held the world in his arms
is now held in the circle of my arms.
What God would become an infant?
So much I do not understand
yet I know I have a son
for now that is enough to know.