Carolyn Hillman: Sugar Mice

“The cock crows clear
On Christmas morn.
“Oooo-oo-oo-oo!”
To-day a child
Lies in the manger,
Where the brown ox
Lies too.
“Oooo-oo-oo-oo!”
“Come and see him—
A beggar woman
Bore him last night.”
“Worthless brazen hussy!—
Put her out of my barn!”
Said Grandam;
“Send her to the poor house.”
“Could you not keep her
One day?” I asked.
“No indeed!” she said;
“This is Christmas,
When I must serve my black pudding,
Burning in brandy,
And when thou
Shalt see thy little tree,
Sparkling with candles,
And hung with gay sugar mice.”
“But grandam,
Was not the Christ-child
Born in a manger too?”
“That was a different matter,”
She said.
The cock crowed
Three times,
Loud and clear.
“Oooo-oo-oo-oo!”
“Bastard brat
In our barn!”
“Oooo-oo-oo-oo!”
Different! Different! Different!
But I slipped out to see him
And take him a sugar mouse;
And all about his head
Was a golden glory!”