This is the story that the tribe,
sitting together crosslegged,
children at their feet,
tell about
the first gift
a man so loved his wife
that one day at that season of the year
when the sun is so low in the sky
that there is fear that it might disappear
and only the wise old men, say
this is the time for hope and prayer
and the sun will return the stronger
and we, the more joyful
this man so loved his wife
that one day he brought home
besides the daily food,
a beautiful thing he found
and gave it to her
because he loved her
and she, overcome by this
new event, kept that
beautiful thing carefully hidden
to remind her of his love
for many years
until one day, because
she loved her son so much that
she in turn gave that beautiful thing
to him
and the moment she handed it
to him, the beautiful thing
shone more brightly than the sun
so bright that he shone too
and the tribe say, they learnt from this
that gifts received are gifts unearned
but come from grace itself; they are not
magic gifts until
you pass them on to someone else
and then you are indeed blest by them
and grace surrounds you as the sun
this is what that tribe say
sitting there crosslegged,
the children at their feet
at this season of the year
Michael Shepherd
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/0004-the-gifts-which-gifted-on/
