"when god came to christmas"

"when god came to christmas"
written around the holidays by jake kilroy.

when god came down the mountain
in his rarest form,
as a human,
he waited for christmas
to celebrate the winter solstice
and the calendar birth of his only son.

he was mistaken for christ,
asked to be santa,
was an assumed lost priest.

he waited 40 days and 40 nights
to find a movie worth a damn
to fall asleep to on a couch that finally wasn't white.

he discovered soft pretzels and waited for snow,
read comic books and topped presents with bows,
drank dark ales and caught a cold,
wrote poetry and waited to hold
the weight of the world
with the strength of his soul.

there was funk music for days
and cigar smoke for weeks.
there was glitter in his hair
and sand on his cheeks,
all as he waited
for a holiday feast.

and so it came,
the miracle of mirth,
paid for by histories of blood
and millenniums of wonder,
with society after society longing
for the guest who also played host.

no family, no invite,
no house to decorate with color,
and his own lineage couldn't be traced,
so he moved on like a nomad at supper.
yet he slapped backs and rolled his neck
in great, wondrous laughs that shook the earth,
but then cried himself silly on his way back,
all with thunder and lightning calling out his name,
wishing merry christmas to all and to all a good night.