The Bear, the Peacock and the Lion
1. The growling bear scratches testily in the snow,
The nervous peacock twitches in the Himalayan glare,
The lion of Abyssinia stretches his sandy roar:
Something mysterious is happening in the restless air.
2. A polymath scratches hastily through old texts,
A nervous priest reads auguries at a gleaming altar,
A prophet wrestles with falsehood's rampant history:
Then each in his own way sees a new star.
3. One almost loses a stallion in icy water,
The second wrests an elephant from a murderous defilement,
The third makes wiley alliance with a camel of no grace
To where the lay lines correspond with the firmament.
4. A tiny child dozes gently in the straw,
The nervous mother reaches out to greet the dusty Kings,
The whole of the delegation kneels on the earthen floor
And offers gold, incense and Myrrh; integrity, priesthood and suffering.