OUTSIDE THE INN • by Ron Lavalette

There would, of course, have to be a star
—as there always is— but
only a single star, luminous

beckoning above the merest shelter.
Around the meager dwelling,
its wattle daubed with ordinary

midnight, there would of course be
shepherds, nodding, and music of
sheep bells a softly ringing lullaby.

There would have to be an angel.
The sky, a clear intoxicant, would
open and the angel would sing

and the shepherds, keeping their sheep
would have to spread the word
and be certain.

Ron. Lavalette lives in the Northeast Kingdom region of Vermont, barely a snowball’s throw from the Canadian border. His work has appeared in dozens of print journals such as The Anthology of New England Writers, The Comstock Review, EDGZ, Lynx Eye, Maelstrom, The Pine Island Journal, and Raintown Review, among others; his work has also appeared in pixel form at Able Muse, Conspire, The Country Mouse, Crescent Moon Journal, MiPo, New Works Review, The Orange Room Review, Stirring, The Writer’s Hood, and many other online venues.

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OUTSIDE THE INN • by Ron Lavalette, 3.9 out of 5 based on 18 ratings
Posted on December 24, 2008 in Poems
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11 Responses to “OUTSIDE THE INN • by Ron Lavalette”


  1. Oonah V Joslin Says:
    December 24th, 2008 at 9:31 am

    Christmas Eve at last and Ron Lavalette’s beautifully atmospheric poem daubing our senses with a few words of pure magic :)

  2. Robin Herrnfeld Says:
    December 24th, 2008 at 12:34 pm

    I think this is beautiful, Ron. The ambiguity given by use of the conditional I find very effective.
    Really liked this:

    “its wattle daubed with ordinary

    midnight,”. Well done!

  3. M Says:
    December 24th, 2008 at 1:52 pm

    Of course, you would have to write this very lovely piece, Ron. And of course, they could pick no better day than today to publish it. Many congrats on a fine poem!

  4. Oonah V Joslin Says:
    December 25th, 2008 at 4:21 am

    and in case anybody missed it, ‘and there were in the fiekds, certain shepherds, keeping watch watch over their flocks by night.’ certain shepherds – wonderful :)

  5. dellfarmer Says:
    December 25th, 2008 at 5:16 am

    Oonah: Thanks for mentioning. Also, in the carol: “…the angels did say/ was to certain poor shepherds/ in fields as they lay..”

    That particular word has always intrigued me. Why *certain* shepherds, not others?

    Thanks for having selected my work.

  6. Robin Herrnfeld Says:
    December 25th, 2008 at 8:54 am

    That’s a very intriguing question. Why certain?

  7. Joan Says:
    December 26th, 2008 at 1:26 pm

    Very clever……… very enjoyable.

  8. Oonah V Joslin Says:
    December 27th, 2008 at 1:33 am

    ‘certain’ is one of those words that has changed usage somewhat. It used to mean ‘a number of’ – nothing to do with assuredness. It is rarely used in that French way nowadays – a certain ‘je ne sais quoi…’ but here, the pun works to perfection since it is the final word of the poem and we are left to ponder its meaning and our own beliefs in the light of all the ‘of courses’ – the things we take for granted about the Christmas story.

  9. Shawn Nacona Says:
    December 27th, 2008 at 11:40 am

    Excellent work Ron, I always enjoy reading your poetry…both your published work and your work that I read in workshop. Congratulations!

    Cheers!

    Shawn Nacona

  10. Don’t Get Me Wrong « Scrambled, Not Fried Says:
    December 9th, 2010 at 6:45 am

    [...] since he writes such a poem and is proud of his work, and since the brilliant ediors at Every Day Poets saw fit to publish said poem a couple years ago, this poet feels completely justified in reprising [...]

  11. Anthologized (II) « Scrambled, Not Fried Says:
    January 22nd, 2011 at 1:41 pm

    [...] collection.  If you’re only interested in reading my contribution, you can find it here: Outside The Inn, but you should really help out the arts and buy the [...]

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