GABRIEL

Nazareth.
Lots of people will spit on the ground when they say the name, disgusted.
Fifty families, dilapidated houses, rags for clothes.
A joke, not fit for decent company.
They even have a saying: "Can anything good come from Nazareth?"
 
And yet, here I am,
     long after midnight,
     hearing the hot breeze moaning over the baked earth,
     listening
          to a young girl sleeping so peacefully.
 
I've been here for hours
     waiting
          not wishing to disturb her dreams.
When will she sleep like this again?
 
I'm Gabriel, messenger of God.
     I should just deliver the message and leave.
          But tonight I hesitate.
Where this will end, I do not know. Maybe no-one knows.
But after millennia of watching this planet,
Beyond a shadow of doubt
I know
     The words on my tongue will turn her world upside down
I know
     fear will grip her heart
I know
     she will suffer greatly.
     her family will suffer greatly
     that upright young man on the other side of town will die
     a thousand deaths
because of the word entrusted to me
 
I never question the tasks laid on me,
     but tonight I wonder:
Why this girl?
     So young, so innocent ... so pure?
She will rise tomorrow,
     and her world will be changed
          She will be changed
               Everything will be forever changed
 
Gently, I touch her hair and look into her suddenly wide-open eyes.
"Greetings," I hear myself say. "You are highly favoured. The Lord is with you."
 
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