Twelve Days Til Christmas

picket fences 

too white for this coastal air

stand poised for decoration

ready to be draped with colored lights

emerging from a cardboard box

ready for the annual untangling

 

the snowman in the next yard

is filling with hot air

tipping like a metronome

and smiling with painted pride

as plastic penguins glisten with sweat

on the white ashes of a commercial conspiracy

 

give me a cup of steaming cider 

and a blanket to warm my feet

a golden bell to hang upon the door

and a pine scented candle to remind me

of distant mountains and breathing trees

 

i need no boxes or paper wrapping

no bows to prove that I belong

give me the echo of reminiscence

sweeter than any Christmas confection

and blissful souls to surround my table

decorated only with broken bread 

Reviews

[Clara]

This definitely reminds me of Christmas in Australia (where it is sweltering hot in December).
The 'coastal air' and 'the snowman in the next yard filling with hot air' - it is all definitely a 'commerical conspiracy'.

Your message is clear; Christmas should be simple and we should reflect on how it feels to be surrounded by our loved ones. :)

[Kenneth The Poet]

What I probably feel about Christmas, you could feed a dog tinsel and see what kind of Christmas ornaments you could get. It's all decoration, pointless and devoid of meaning. I think your prose demonstrates that truth quite well. Nice work for sure.

[Rossen]

The trimmings of bliss have sharp edges,as you skilfully finished each stanza...
This is what the eggnog is for.
~Rossen

[K. Louis]

tender...like those two last stanzas a lot.

[Ufi Auttorri ~ UfoAutho..]

When one first finds their "voice" it may often seem to them a bit squeaky and timid. There is too, at times, the almost unbearable imagining that they have exhaled and the words or melody that issue forth seem to gasp for air of their own accord. Others however often perceive it quite differently. To them there is a sense of delicate vibration, of grassy reeds waving, subtly, moved by a steady shoreline breeze. There is an invisible motion of time and space that lays waste to concerns that previously troubled. No longer burdened the soul is freed. It takes wing with a small hopping tilt from the ledge of consciousness and falling briefly then soars toward clouds draped about tree-cloaked mountains where "blissful souls .. surround my table" and "give me the echo of reminiscence." It is such a difficult thing for the audience, the reader, the recipient of such marvelous constructions to communicate. For in the end there is only applause, perhaps a few exhalations in the style of the period or roses; token gestures that impart little to nothing of the gifts given and received. Yet it is all we, as audience, have and I for one lay them gently at your feet.

100 breathing trees

[Samuel Jack]

"Ready for the annual untangling" love that line, i had to say it out loud a few times. And then the next stanza ends with another class line, "on the white ashes of a commercial conspiracy" I laughed out loud at that one :) that line brilliantly pops the sugary sweet bubble you were building up. You got punch lines Friday.

And then you paint some lovely earthy tones, and bring us back to the real Christmas, the gathering of family and friends. Beautiful.

I did not expect all this when I clicked on a Christmas poem.

Well written and well read.

[Rita L. Sev]

All the trappings of the season, we put so much stock in them. The truth is that warmth is all we need to decorate our hearts, and loved ones are the best gifts... This is a lovely reminder, Sarah...

[Kleio13]

I haven't tried steaming cider yet, but i'm ready for it. And this is the best Christmas poem I have ever read . Thanks for writing :)

[Marc Marlon Villaflor]

Love this piece very beautiful.

[Jack...]

Christmas has become far to commercial, though it has been that way for years, so "become" really doesn't apply as well in my sentence. But you my friend have penned the reminder that Christmas is a day to share love, to seek out happy memories and live within the simpler things in life. Beautiful my sweet friend.