THE INWARD STAR.(Poem)

 
   Whatever happened to the gold which the Three Kings brought? 
   Was it in nuggets or in Persian coins? 
   No records survive 
   Matthew never named the King whose gift it was 
   The Kings were discreet by nature 
   Perhaps that is why they are known as the Wise Men 
 
   Was the gold used during the flight into Egypt? 
   On the journey other inn-keepers had to be paid 
   Then there was food to be bought and hay for the donkey 
 
   Legends were built up around these happenings 
 
   Sometimes the family slept in the open under the sky 
   Was Joseph unnerved when he woke and saw the stars staring down? 
   Who would guide them tomorrow? 
   Where had their angel gone? 
   To whom should they cry out if a freak storm broke? 
   There were tales of those who had sunk for ever into 
   the wet sand 
 
   Once the family had spent the night with a robber whose 
   young boy suffered from leprosy 
   The robber had invited them into his cave 
   When Mary washed the boy in the same water ...