Kings and Wise Men

Saturday Stories

December 22, 2018

I

A poet friend and I have composed many poems together. I call it "Co-creation at its best," a phrase inspired by Abraham Hicks. Many of our poetry duets have been published in various literary sites. Our most recent was last Monday, December 17, in Galaktika Poetike Atunis, an online poetry magazine based in Albania in southeastern Europe.     

II

I'm happy that our poetry themes are now mostly about our own Philippine heritage – our myths, folklore, history, culture, heroes. Yet poetry knows no bounds of time and space. We once did a poem about ancient Palestine, posting our stanzas in the Comments section of "Hearts In Atlantis," my Facebook post for May 11, 2018. She spoke about the Middle East conflict that has been there since Old Testament times. The poem itself is still unpublished, but I think our poetry collection could become a book. Who knows?

III

My lines are inspired by the Three Wise Men who found the baby Jesus in a manger, according to the stories. I'm going to share here my part in that poem as a way to celebrate Christmas, and I will simply call it "Kings."

IV

My ABAB rhyme form and 8-7-8-7 beat is from one of my favorite poems, "A Psalm of Life: What The Heart Of The Young Man Said To The Psalmist" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow – "Lives of great men all remind us/ We can make our lives sublime,/ And, departing, leave behind us/ Footprints on the sands of time..."

Kings

By Jonathan Aquino

I

As all timeless stories begin,

I'll say "Once upon a time," 

in a small town called Bethlehem,

in what is now Palestine

II

There came wise men of that era:

Balthasar of Arabia

arrived with Melchior of Persia

and with Gaspar of India

III

Masters of the mystic arts came,

and they have all seen the sign

and the star with light like a flame

to lead them to the Divine

IV

Some say they are kings and wise men,

magicians and alchemists,

while some say they are all of them,

and they came with special gifts

V

Frankincense offered by Gaspar,

Melchior's gold, fit for a king,

sacred myrrh oil from Balthazar,

for mankind's greatest blessing.

Photo courtesy of AllJigsawPuzzles.com