Yule Tide

Not everything is a christmas special

Mid December and the cold

Now seeps into my bones

Opening a old box of memories

Marked Christmas decorations

With a soft chuckle

I unwrap each item

Remembering

 

Within each a memory comes forth

And a smile crosses my face

Warm thoughts and holiday lights

Laughing faces, smoky incents of ham

Dinners and relatives on hand

The joy of presents under the Christmas tree

 

A slow descent into sadness

This box contains just my memories now

And those of an aging woman

For whom only a precious few Decembers remain

 

No need to take out the card rack

Few now come to be displayed

Each year, there’s less and less to put away

 

Going through the motions

It’s all I know

 

No one left to carry these thoughts anymore

 

One day the circle

Will close around me

My eyes will shut

And those memories

Like the yule tide will ebb

Vanishing in the ether

 

Reviews

[Michael of Gilead]

Thank you very much for your review Robyn.

[robyn.alexandra]

So rarely do I find a poem about Christmas that is anything more than a sweet and shallow ode to forced merriment. It gives me great joy to read something so truthful to what the season is really like. Beautifully sad and gracefully written. Bravo.

[Michael of Gilead]

Thank you so much Melissa

[Emily Rae]

this poem was a nostalgic work of art, sad and sweet

[Michael of Gilead]

Thanks Marie, I have a box unopened in the attic marked ornaments for michaels future, old glass ones...ironic and bittersweet that i have no one to pass them onto
*selfpity* ;)

[Marie Harrison]

Opening a box of memories
Marked Christmas decorations
With a soft chuckle
I unwrap each item
Remembering


Ah...this stanza really struck a chord with me. My parents still hang up ornaments that my brother and I made as children. I also have a box of ornaments from my former marriage that haven't been opened in years. It's just too painful for me.
Such a tender and beautiful poem Michael!

[Michael of Gilead]

Thank you Leslie

[Leslie Philibert]

Good poem,I like the way you create resignation and sadness at a time where we are forced to be ...merry...,even if we are not.Good work.

[Michael of Gilead]

Thanks Robbie, I am tired of the bittersweet, yet each year brings a little more.

[Robbie~xoxo~]

Chistmas brings out so many strong emotions...especially when reflecting back on memories. So bittersweet...The sadness is felt deep inside the heart. Thank you for sharing this.