strange to think of Joseph worrying

about transporting his very pregnant wife

when she ought to have been pampered instead of uprooted

by an unyielding government ruling

that all the world should be taxed

just like us with petty but nagging

concerns for the well-being

of those we love that nudge

then jolt us with the truth

of our own inadequacy

to do what we ought, let alone

what we want