Away in a Manger by Philip Larkin
They tucked him up, his mum and dad,
In a manger in a stable,
The only baby bed they had
According to the ancient fable.
We’re told the stars looked down on him.
Perhaps the roof was full of holes.
Both church and state would frown on him.
It’s a mug’s game, saving souls.
Awakened by the sound cows make,
He doesn’t cry as most babes do.
He’s in for more than one bad break.
He won’t have kids, I’ll warrant you.
Chris O’Carroll is the author of The Joke’s on Me. He has been a Light featured poet, and a reader in the magazine’s Light Verse in Dark Times series. His poems have also appeared in The Asses of Parnassus, Lighten Up Online, The Orchards, Love Affairs at the Villa Nelle, and The Great American Wise Ass Poetry Anthology.