making history

lo -
let us find
where the story
was first seeded
in the unkept soil
that sanded our eyes
against unforgiving
horizons

and lined cave-floors
by time unmoved
soothing cracked soles
in uninterrupted
darkness until

one morning
a single grain
silted
the coating
of an old man's tongue

travelled with him
seasoned and shared
with kings and augurs
and perhaps
even
lowly shepherds.

it grew and spread
like papyrus
choking all
in its range until
only one version
remained

that omitted
the countless births
of illegitimate boys
in cheap hotels
on unspecified dates
all over judea

who were never kissed
by the breath
of an angel.