Simple Gifts for a King

When as a child I came into the world

Helpless and lying in a draughty shed

Your wisest men, they say, brought gifts to me:

Of gold - for crowning of an infant King;

And frankincense - for raising prayers to him;

And myrrh - portending burial and death.

But would you bring me gifts like this today,

And lavish me with costly offerings?

I would instead you follow me and let

Me show you where I make my dwelling place.

See this naked child, starving in the sun

Witness his ribs etched starkly on his skin

See his swollen belly, and how his eyes

Ignore the soft caresses of the flies.

I am that child. Today I live in him.

Each pain, each pang each gasp is also mine.

I would have you bring not crowns of gold

But food and water, simple gifts for a King

For when you nourish him, you nourish me.

And see the tramp who shivers by the door

Frozen from the night spent on the streets.

So will you offer up a prayer for him

That floats to heaven on a mystic scent?

I am that man, today I live in him
I feel the winter’s cold as much as he

I would have you learn from this young woman

Whose arms envelop him with love and warmth.

From here no fragrant scent but stench arises

From tattered socks and clothes infused with grime.

But when you love him, so you love me too.

Witness this teenage girl who falls apart

Imprisoned by the blackness in her brain

And see the scars that tell of her despair

Her sorrow, sighing, bleeding, dying, and

The bitter scent of death her only light.

And would you bury her with costly spice

Those wise men long ago saw as my fate?

I am that girl, her sorrow overwhelms

Me too.  I want this bitter cup to pass

I would rather have you bring the simple gift

Of being there for her - to walk beside

A mile or two and listen for a while

For when you walk with her, you walk with me.