THE BIRTH AND THE MASSACRE OF THE INNOCENTS The embryo implants the uterine lining, folding within its amniotic abode The gut and neural tubes forming in conjunction Cardiac impulse with foetal brain function The journey was harsh, days on the road in the dirt The young couple compelled by the census taker to reach the City of David The time came for the birth of her firstborn but no lodgings were found So, wrapped in strips of cloth, the child was placed in an animal feeding trough In the absence of relations The human paternal genome left in want The Word became flesh and blood through the unnatural conception The uterine contractions are a source of pain The agonising pa**age through cervix dilating Vacating the endometrium the child emerges, afterbirth, initial respiration Infanticide has gripped Ephrath, mothers cry as their children die His Highness, his wickedness, Herod the Great Has slaughtered the innocents for his excruciating jealousy The Magi had informed Herod of the birth of a king His unbridled ambition was crushed by the arrival of the Christ He consulted the chief priests and scribes as to the place of birth Then, with his throne in thought, the ugly violence of the murders were wrought But too late for the child of promise had fled to western lands The Word became flesh and blood through the unnatural conception Thus the Christ of prophecy was born