The Afterbirth Star
with the baby born
and the Christmas star faded,
Joseph swaddled the afterbirth
and the umbilical worm in a cloth.
he kicked aside the straw
with his foot and staff.
among the cow dung, the slops
from the drinking trough,
he dug a hole with his sandal,
deepened it with a shepherd’s crook
and a piece of found flint,
inching into winter ground.
he placed rednest and
eggshell,
into that black hole, patting the soil.
and when had they packed
and ambled the donkey off
this sac shone in the constellation
of rock, clay and all things earth.