To the margins
Magi are wise
enough to knowtheir certain ignorance.
Drawn to the magis,they long, rather than know.
They follow a star,stirring light
in their heartsmore than the sky,
To the margins, whereeven goats lose their footing,
they make a silent journey,growing in hope
that the child withinand the Child without
will recognise each other.
Marlene Marburg
The return of the Magi
To the east and further east we were counted amongst the wisest of men,For we had mastered all the signs of the firmament,Made wonders of our speculations.Silken with honours, we were the Magi;Until the night that we were drawn by that one dogged starThat ranged beyond all our scrutinies,And by the rumour of a king that came from nowhere.
And then this HerodWho rose to us like a stroked cat's backEyes shining like a fox.And we were brought gravely down to Bethlehem,With Herod's breath still leering on our necks,A mean suspicious placeThat ended in a sty,Where, it seems, we were impelled to look down,Down into a rude mangerAnd into the incalculable sovereignty of a child.
When we left that place we were borne awayUpon a vessel named Excelsior,Swollen with sail, leaning lightly on the wind,That steered impeccably through an ocean of stars.
Grant Fraser
Marlene Marburg PhD (Theology) is a spiritual director and the Director of Student Formation at Sentir College of Spiritual Formation in Melbourne, Australia. Her poetry has appeared in journals in Australia and overseas including Spiritus, Studio, Divan, Poetrix, Eremos, Westerly and Presence.
Grant Fraser is a lawyer, poet and filmmaker. He has recently completed a short film, Rembrandt Van Rijn and he is presently working on a longer production, Strangers to the World, which has as its subject the lives of Thomas More, Etty Hillesum and Franz Jaegerstaetter.