Actually, this is a request for help about one specific piece, but it could expand, I suppose!

I have looked and looked and LOOKED electronically and in hard copy for the source of a particular piece. Google, Alltheweb, Utne Cafe, encyclopediae, dictionaries of quotations--No joy anywhere at all. Maybe someone in this community can help. Folkies often have arcane knowledge--and a huge collection of folkies has a huge collection of knowledge.

It's a look at the Nativity from a very earthy perspective. It has lines in it like, "The night she gave birth to her firstborn was cold," and "The rude chatter of shepherds died down--history only later turned them into kings," and "the lack of privacy that is the specialty of the poor," and "All this came about because of her son's smile." I can supply more lines if necessary.

It may be a song or a poem or maybe even an essay. I thought it was from Bertolt Becht, but I haven't been able to find any reference to it in his works.

It's going to be used on a soon-to-be-released DVD of off-the-beaten-track Yuletide (and other) material, and it would be nice to credit the author. If anyone can suggest who its author might be, or even whether it is a song or a poem or something else--please point me in the right direction!