with us

sometimes i forget what Your name
means, o Emmanuel, God with us.
it rolls off the tongue easily
as a lesson learned by a little child —
a foreign word made familiar,
innocuous, even, by frequent use.
but God — the Consuming Fire
the Beginning and Endless
eternally in present tense
the Speaker into being
of that which was not
and Sustainer of all
which in Him is …
God with — among
beside, present,
having, together
inextricably joined to …
God with us — us?
the King of glory stepping
into flesh like ours
that tears and wears out,
the Light of the world
looking through eyes
limited by darkness,
the ageless Word arriving
as a baby, with nothing
but a cry?
how inconceivable.
yet You
God with me
know better
than i.