young girls in crush velvet Christmas
dresses,
braids flying behind them
laughter trailing like satin ribbons
wound through their golden hair
tripping through the aisles
{where is mother?}
laughter rippling through the pews in their wake
like altar bells, silver and sweet
unknowingly accompanying
Christ, unawoken, as He, in the Bread
is presented in reverent silence
God travels in on the triumphant laughter
of little girls
and fills every breast
with unbridled joy.
