Rest on the Flight into Egypt The donkey nibbles forbs greening the cracks in Mary’s boulder throne, a bulrush basket by the Virgin’s feet. The unswaddled Savior on Mary’s lap is not realizing the impossible task of fulfilling his parents’ needs-- he’s not commanding the date palm to lower its fruit laden fronds to feed his weary mother. Rather, as Mary dangles a cluster of grapes for his amusement, he fingers the matte roundness of each globe. In the background Joseph uses his staff to thrash ripe chestnuts from a masted tree. A balmy fall day. Later, as sundown deepens the serene blue of Mary’s robe to navy and the distant tawny olive green hayfields become shadows’ shadows Joseph will light a small fire on a flat rock. With his curved knife blade he will score an X through each chestnut’s leather skin before burying them in embers. Leslie Morris Leslie Morris works as a speech/language therapist in the Austin public schools. Her work has appeared in The Cincinnati Review, Hayden’s Ferry Review and elsewhere.
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October 2024
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