Offerings

Some came with frankincense
gold and myrrh
Some brought myrrh and aloes

Some came with mint and dill
One gave two small coins

One offered nard and weeping
Another brought keys to a tomb

I bring my packet of silence
my shilling of stars
and hope
for a purification of water
a cleansing by water

Included in Poems 3.

I've been challenged by one or two readers about the "shilling of stars". So...

Hold up a small coin at arm’s length against a starry sky. How many stars does it cover? By extension, “How many stars can I buy for a shilling?” It speaks to our ideas of relative and absolute value (which is also true of another meaning for ‘shilling’).