The Spark
The kiss of a snow-flake
Softens the steely gloom;
A spark before daybreak
Shoots from a blazing womb:
A cry from the timeless
Breaks into common time;
A star's mystic brightness
Announces the sublime.
Shepherds, shepherds tell me
What did you see?
A vision in the sky
Of angels passing by
A voice fulfilling
Every prophecy.
A baby lies sleeping
With shepherds all around;
His mother is weeping
In joy, without a sound;
The star is so bright
It Sweeps the gloom away,
As this sacred night
Turns into hopeful day:
The star promises kings
With precious offerings
Of gold and incense rare
And the foreboding of myrrh,
The glory and the sadness
That it brings:
But set your eyes upon a higher throne
Of glory that until now was unknown,
On beauty that no earthly power can clone
And flawless love that earth can never own,
The promise that we will not be alone.