Christmas Revisited

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._N._Taber

Now, every year, for many years, I have written a Poem for Christmas that I send to friends instead of a Christmas card.  They are rarely if even conventional Christmas poems, not least because I am not religious person, just like to keep in touch with people and cards are so commercial at a time when this should be the least of our concerns, and many people can’t really afford them anyway. I used to send cards just to keep in touch and let people know I was thinking of them, but nowadays we have e-mail…

Why do I write a Poem for Christmas at all? Well, regular readers will know that, although I am not religious, I like to think I have a strong sense of spirituality. Only, I find it in nature rather than any religion, especially as religions are so divisive. (We should respect different points of view, not attack them.) Born on the winter solstice, I dare say there is an element of pagan in me too.

For many people, their religion is a club, ‘Members Only’; it takes the spirit of religion to reach out to non-members too. Don't get me wrong. I respect religious points of view, simply cannot enter into them.

So here is my Poem for Christmas, 2014. Whoever and wherever you are, and whatever your Belief or non-Belief, it comes to you in the spirit of Love and Peace.

CHRISTMAS REVISITED

Clouds, like baggage

on a tramp’s back trudging the sky;

doom-gloom of winter

threatening to extinguish flames

at a roaring hearth,

humanity's way of creating shades 

of kindness

Ghosts, wistfully engaging

in a pillow fight in remembrance

of a Santa Claus

that betrayed every trust created

to reassure us

with mockery of the cruellest blasts

of winter

Snow, like white feathers

heaping accusations on doorsteps

and at windows

where humankind flirts with blame

long enough be acquitted

by cosy fantasies fuelling conscience

in home fires

Tramp in the sky falters

under a load growing heavier, Apollo

pondering whether or not

to join the pillow fighters, kill off

the best snowmen,

leave Christmas to the complacency

of religion  

Frost on the glass

creating a kaleidoscope of life’s pain

and pleasures, urging us

to dwell on the latter, believe

in happiness in spite

of a sorry world’s worst misgivings

about Christmas

Doom-gloom of winter

ever threatened by the fiercer flames

of a roaring hearth,

humanity's way of creating shades

of kindness to pass on

to the next generation in the spirit

of Christmas

Copyright R. N. Taber 2014