Balthazar Brings Myrrh

Balthazar the King, Black Magus, myrrh
was your portion, bitterness your gift.
How well you knew it all already, sir:
events were moving, and you caught the drift.
A new world-age was then being ushered
onto the world-stage; all parts were set.
It was for you only to swing your censer
scattering perfume about the child’s bed.

Magus, prophet: foreknowledge isn’t free.
You carried futures in a golden bowl
like water. Adoration? That’s not what I see
in those downcast eyes, that downcast soul.
You saw the future. You saw the pain.
You saw the shackles, whips and chains.

Books Available
The Day of My First Driving Lesson
Country Well-Known as an Old Nightmare's Stable
High-Voltage Lines
Knocking from Inside