How Bright the Angel
How bright the angel flames the snow
Fusing earthly and heavenly hues
Of rose undreamed, violet unseen
And golden white bringing the news.
No gentle message for the weak,
No pastoral when the angels sang
To frightened shepherds but the vast
Eruption of the Gelbe Klang.
Light shifts to blue and makes a path
Through ghostly streets to where he lies
Within a casket of pure light
Which draws and soothes the awestruck eyes.
Ah red! Ah red!
Whoever thought that what he said
Would come without a cost?
And red
Amid the white
At Pentecost.