Wednesday, December 25, 2013

A Steadfast Companion - Christmas 2013



That Christmas Thing

I've spent sober Christmases
and ones so drunk I danced with the tree.
I've spent joyous Christmases
and ones so sad I sobbed by the tree.

I've spent extravagant Christmases
and ones so poor I didn't even have a tree.
I've spent family-and-friend Christmases
and ones so alone I named the tree.

I've spent warm California by-the-pool Christmases
and ones so cold I plucked icicles from the tree.
I've spent hale and hearty Christmases
and ones so sick I threw up under the tree.

I've spent loud, rambunctious Christmases 
and ones so quiet I listened to the tree.
And, this Christmas, in her honor and with love,
I promise to plant a tree.

---Belle
December 1993

12 comments:

  1. I love it! Have a very Merry Christmas!

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    1. Hi Joan. Thank you! Hope your Christmas was full of merry and joy!

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  2. ~Smile~ Hope you have a wonderful holiday season--with no crying or vomiting, just lots of joy!

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    1. Hi Kathy. This year, all was calm, all was bright. Hope yours was full of the same!

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  3. I love this poem and thank you for telling the truth about Christmas, Belle!:)

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    1. Thank you, Kat. There have been many different celebrations! This year was peaceful and relaxed. Hope yours was the same!

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  4. A wonderful Christmas poem, Belle, each line one most of us can identify with. I hope you get that tree planted, and I hope you had a very pleasant Christmas. Penny

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    1. Merry (belated) Christmas, Penny. I have just the spot picked out in the yard for a tree. Soon, I hope, I will have a forest!

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  5. This is lovely Bell. Its amazing how you have covered so many Christmas times in our collective lives. I especially liked "....and ones so poor I didn't even have a tree" I recall a frigid Christmas on the Yukon border in -25 degrees shared with a sadly misplaced Californian (it was during the Vietnam war, I wont elaborate!). We decorated a sad pole lamp and called it our tree and eat left over Chinese food of questionable vintage. I had not thought of that Christmas for many years until I read your poem. Thanks for sharing!!

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    1. Oh, Tullik. What a funny (though probably not at the time) Christmas tale. A pole lamp and moldy Chinese food...I feel you have the makings of a great short story there!

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