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���������� The Return of the Magi

������ This town is one we've seen before:

������ These crooked lanes, that stable door,

������ Although it must have been a dream,

������ For never were we here before.

������ And that quick dog, scared and lean,

������ Crossing the square scarcely seen

������ And the dark-haired girl leaning out

������ The hostel window familiar seem.

������ The sky was lit by the evening star

������ As now, but brighter then by far;

������ Above us shuddered angels' wings

������ And we had journeyed far, so far.

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The Midnight Air

The midnight air was a crystal vise

Crushing a billion bits of ice -

One stood out grand and glaring.

Mary, a virgin in her bearing,

Joseph trying to make the best

Of expectations. You know the rest:

Denied the use of house and table,

The birth took place in a humble stable.

Shepherds, black and yellow kings,

The sky a feast of angels' wings.

Thirty years later came the dove,

Ushering in the age of love.

�� Frank Thomas Smith