Another year  
is looming
do you have a prediction
of a dooming
have your resolutions come true?
or are they
  silly superstition
Procrastinators
what's another year for you?

We have lost
the reason
for the season

The pain of
over spending
Beyond our means

The pain of
giving
more time then
We have

The pain of
not
Giving at all

The pain of
Not giving
What we
Are willing  
to spare

The pain of
Frustrated Complaining
about the crowds
parking spaces
the hassles of it all

The pain of
the reason for the season
is  lost
to commercialized  
It’s only about  
Getting Stuff
More stuff

You have never
experienced a
Carmen
Christmas
Until you have been
To my house
My family remembers
And their child
Remember
Christmas

Now
Getting older and sick
my pain is
more physical
I need
A total knee replacement
I pack on ice to numb the pain
So many pain pills shots

I have a list to do
As long as Santa’s
I’m pulling all nighters
To get it all done
Cleaning cooking
baking baskets of treats
I don’t complain
It’s not my style

Pride perhaps

I do it out of pure love
The family will be here Christmas
For a few days
Waiting on them
Feeding them
Caring for their every need
I want them to remember
the love of giving

Think what Jesus gave us
His life our salvation
What are we giving
him on his Birthday

My knee COPD
all my other ailments
Are nothing

I pray Lord
Let me give them
One more year
As I fight back the pain
With tears
no one must see

My “teenage” Grandson
asked me
What I wanted for
Christmas
YOU
I told him
I DO NOT NEED ANYTHING
Yet
He earned money
Walk to the store
To buy me
a gift
He knows
I will love

I am planting seeds
Of
Generosity Goodness Kindness
Most importantly
LOVE
Merry Christmas

Santatize
When you decorate
Lights ,ornaments
Nic Nacks
Everything accumulated by a lifetime
of memories
So much love
Your house
Sparkles
And
Shines
With.              Who
You.                    Are
Then.                   Now

When letters wait
to pounce on a blank page
when thoughts crowd the mind
like frothing **** in a pond
I keep wondering
what poetry is to me
what poetry is to many

Is it not the language of the heart
with no intervention of gray matter
the unlocking of closed vaults
stirring the embers of love, hurt or pain
or giving a free rein to fancy
and flying on magic carpets
to lands forlorn

Sometimes it is
a glide into a sea of tranquillity
an escape from
the humdrum of the world
a flash of liberation
from assaults of pain
a sedative
to numb the turmoil
a sanctuary
for a burdened heart
a window
to look at the world through
a companion
when one is inconsolably alone
a candle flame
in a darkening world
a cloth line
to hang the ***** laundry
a water lily blooming
in the pool of tears
a shelter
in homelessness

sometimes it is a ladder
to climb up to Heavens
an angel on wings
with tidings of hope
peace in a world
braced for war

Poetry, if you are all these
let us fall at your feet
bless us in our art
may we splurge in fancy
and conjure up worlds from words!

our poems may not be light houses
but could be fireflies
on a starless night!

Did you ever notice
what we do
when we hold
a small child ?

We all do it

Our Eyes

we look straight into
the child’s face and
silently speak
the wonder, awe, love,
that can’t be
put into words.

Our Lips

we use our lips a lot
when holding a baby
we purse them,
makes sounds
that aren’t words,
and we kiss
the child
from a distance.

Our Arms

if ever arms
expressed
holding something
precious
they do it
when we cradle
a tiny baby.
Few could describe
such grace,

But everyone
can picture it.

Our Whole Body

Did you ever
notice
we never
stand still
when holding
a tiny baby?

we slowly sway
from side to side
turn in half circles
lean
forward and back

Did you ever
stop
to think
that you were once
held that way?

Anyone
Who ever held you
as a tiny baby
held you that way

Did you ever
stop
to think
that God holds
you that way?
NOT
just when you
were a tiny child
but now
even if things
aren’t going well
ESPECIALLY  
if things aren’t going well

what child is this?

it’s ME
In God’s arms

Merry Christmas