Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay

I know that, strictly speaking, the Magi, are still on camel back following a star but I also know everyone is bored with the story by epiphany so here is my final Christmas related poetry blog. Courage, doubt, fear and wonder, in the story of the Magi. What had they been part of? Like us, they wondered whether ‘this was a future they wanted to know’…

Magi

Summoning his courage, the man dismounted 
and, hand on back, prepared to enquire
Had King or court seen the sight they looked for, 
following that celestial shooting fire?

Short shrift was what he felt they gave him 
though to his face they seemed keen to help.
He didn’t hear, but sensed, the whisper
‘Let them find him, then we’ll kill the whelp’.

Slipping weary through foreign streets, 
conspicuous in their eastern gear,
with tired mounts and aching feet, 
feeling the pull of hope and fear 

they came at last to a stable yard, 
muck underfoot and the horses put out.
A baby was there, his father on guard, 
so, filled with joy and wracked with doubt,

they gave him their gifts and went their way,
avoiding the court and all public show,
with confused thoughts, unable to say 
if this was a future they wanted to know.

Reaching open country they increased their speed,
seeking to leave all their fears behind
and focus for now on the hope instead
that somehow they’d glimpsed, in that yard, the divine.