“Wise Women Also Came”
- poetry and art by Jan Richardson
Wise women also came.
The fire burned in their wombs long before
they saw
the flaming star in the sky.
They walked in shadows, trusting the path
would open under the light of the moon.
Wise women also came,
seeking no directions,
no permission from any king.
They came by their own authority,
their own desire,
their own longing.
They came in quiet, spreading no rumors,
sparking no fears to lead to innocents’ slaughter,
to their sister Rachel’s inconsolable lamentations.
Wise women also came,
and they brought useful gifts:
water for labor’s washing,
fire for warm illumination,
a blanket for swaddling.
Wise women also came,
at least three of them,
holding Mary in the labor,
crying out with her in the birth pangs,
breathing ancient blessings into her ear.
Wise women also came,
and they went,
as wise women always do,
home a different way.