Adoration of the Magi

Adoration of the Magi

Royal Rhodes

by Hieronymus Bosch
at the Metropolitan Museum

The Flemish-speaking painter held his brush
like a feather from an angel's wings
to show the robes and faces of the kings
who do not seem to have been in a rush
to see this child or spot the heavenly host
closer than a star above this hush.

Within cleft windows and a castle's tower:
a bird is perched, an owl glares, a ledge
displays an egg that teeters on the edge,
perhaps to show new birth, unlike the power
the glowing crowns and regal gifts display,
as armies march to battle, hour by hour.

Joseph kneels and poor men reach their hands
towards fire that this empty space embraces,
while Mary's tresses shine, untouched by traces
of the fault our parents left that stands
to bar our way, until this tiny child
extends his arms. Now lift him, love commands.

---

Royal Rhodes
Poet & Professor

Royal taught courses in religion and death & dying for about 40 years. His poems have appeared in over 45 literary journals, including: The Lyric, Better Than Starbucks, Abandoned Mine, and The Montreal Review.  Collaborations of art and his poetry have been published by The Catbird [on the Yadkin] Press in North Carolina.

Painting by Hieronymus Bosch