Rodborough Robin Trail

It came upon a midnight clear

It came upon a midnight clear,

That glorious song of old,

When angels bent down to the earth,

And changed machine guns into harps,

And turned leaden bullets into golden carols

That drifted across no man’s land.

And choirs of soldiers joined the angels

In a cease-fire of exultation,

While all the bloodied uniformed citizens

Of heaven above watched as silent knights,

As helmets and caps and whisky and schnapps

Were passed from frozen side to frightened side.

A robin trilled a winter song of peace;

A soldier kicked a ball into the air,

And there it stayed, suspended high up in the sky,

Shining forever in a continent’s memory;

A star of peace in a bleak midwinter’s century.