A Poem for Christmas 1938: Joan as the Virgin Mary in the Christmas Pageant

Joan was delighted to portray the Virgin Mary in the church pageant in 1938.

December 17, 1938. Joan doodled different views of her in her costume.

She also drew herself on the day of the pageant, Dec. 18, 1938, by the manger.

By the manger as Mary (December 18, 1938). Note the ink blot.

Joan was very moved by Mary’s story and wrote several poems, imagining Mary’s thoughts.  Here is one of them she wrote the night after the pageant.

December 18, 1938                                                                                     

Mary

I do not understand

Why are they bringing gifts to my boy,

New-born.  Why in this quiet city

Should three kings lay gifts and leave?

What brought the light-faced shepherd here?

I do not understand.

Whom am I the mother of

That they should honor so?

I am only a humble maiden

Who brought forth a child in a barn.

I do not understand

The babe does not cry,

But lies in the hay, asleep.

What do they mean when they say

That he shall suffer and lie in a cold tomb?

Why are the shepherds’ sticks crossed?

I do not understand

That a babe should prosper and grow tall

And laugh, and be a man, suffer and die.

Is not this the greatest wonder of them all?

That one should grow and cells miraculously divide

And that the cells which thirty years had made

Should rest and in the cool Earth lie.

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Here is the photo taken of Joan and the other young actors that winter.

Joan in the center as the Virgin Mary, December 18, 1938.

Best wishes for a happy Christmas and a joyful holiday season to all!