I have been writing a poem every Christmas for a long time and several pre-date this blog. If for no other reason than this is a more reliable place to keep them for my own record than my hideously disorganised documents folder on my computer / hard drive, I decided I'd put them all in a post here. Their length was, at least partially, determined by the fact that most years I shared them in Christmas cards, until the busy-ness of life and the price of stamps put paid to that tradition!
I think, despite the recent lack of inspiration, I write better poetry now than some of these early examples, but what strikes me is how the themes still resonate. The very first one I wrote, it seems, was calling for peace in Palestine. Almost 20 years on, it could have been written today. Others, similarly, address social issues which have not gone away in the intervening years. My writing has developed, global "civilisation" it seems, not so much.
Christmas Poem 2005 – Dreams of Peace in Bethlehem
Bethlehem, holy city, where love came down,
Once surrounded by the angel throng;
Now trapped and stifled by a concrete wall
And bullets have silenced the angelic song.
Songs of joy and peace were once so near
Now the city lives in silent fear.
But there is still a whispered song of hope
Upon this green and troubled hill,
And this is still a holy city,
Where the suffering servant suffers still.
So this Christmas spare a thought for their pain,
And pray that peace may soon come to reign.
Christmas Poem 2006 – You do it unto me
Born into homelessness and poverty,
The first things you knew were darkness and danger.
Victim of violence in an occupied territory,
Forced to grow up, an outcast and a stranger.
Where are you now, oh Christmas Christ child?
In the sanitised stable of a nativity set
Pushed to one side where the gifts are piled,
Forgotten and ignored amidst the credit card debt.
But The Christmas Christ child is still with us here on earth:
He’s here in the poor, the abused, the refugee.
Is he welcome here among us as we celebrate his birth?
For “What you do to them” he said, “you do it unto me.”
Christmas Poem 2007 – A future of hope
In a sanitized stable with a warm orange glow
Well-dressed proud parents put a baby on show.
A nativity scene with saccharine smiles
Makes it easy to hide from the real-life trials
Of that first Christmas night in the cave of a stranger
When a baby was born into darkness and danger.
And what was the message that baby came to proclaim?
A future of peace and freedom from pain.
But around the world tonight it’s like the first Christmas still
As children grow up hungry while we eat our fill.
So tonight as we celebrate a refugee’s birth.
Let’s share his message with everyone on earth.
Stand up and be counted, let our voice be heard to say
That each child deserves a future, one which starts today.
A home to be safe in, enough food and an education
And let’s make this Christmas a real celebration.
Christmas Poem 2008 – A light to the world
A flame flickers faintly in the darkness
A fragile light alive in the night
Winds of change and news of the future:
A breath, shaping this light.
I can let the wind extinguish this flame
Deny my voice and give in to doubt
Close my eyes, turn my back and be silent
And so let the flame go out.
Or I can let the wind be a challenge:
Whatever the messages it may bring
Can fan the flames of inspiration
And let my hopeful soul sing.
A breath can turn sparks to powerful flames
Can let hopes and dreams be unfurled.
Stand up, speak out and burn brightly:
I will be a light to the world.
Christmas Poem 2009 – Peace that’s an advertiser’s dream
Peace on earth was the angel’s song
And to us all goodwill
And where do we search and where do we find
This peace that’s elusive still?
Inside the golden wrapper of a chocolate bar,
Curled up by a mock-Tudor hearth.
Hidden in the pages of a holiday brochure,
Or bottled up with luxury bubble bath.
Is this what was meant by the angelic voices?
Singing for a peace that’s an advertisers dream.
Or was their vision of something deeper?
Through which a glimmer of hope might gleam.
Where is the comfort in a holiday brochure
When you’re gazing on your bombed-out house?
Not much help from chocolate or bubble bath
When you’re grieving for your children or spouse.
So what of peace in far flung places?
What of peace in war-torn lands?
What hope of a peace that’s borne of justice?
Will we reach for a stranger’s outstretched hands?
Can we talk to each other? Can resources be shared?
Can the guns be laid down and the bombing cease?
Can the whisper grow louder than the advertisers jingle?
And can our Christmas carol be a real call for peace?
Christmas Poem 2010 – Do we really want Christ in Christmas?
To put Christ back into Christmas
In the media, is an oft heard cry
They want the cute, smiley baby,
And blond-haired angels in the sky
But do they know what it is they’re wanting?
Have they thought what they’re asking for?
Who is this Christ whose Mass it is?
And what would it cost to restore?
The Christ whose return they’re requesting
I’m not sure would quite fit their bill
He wouldn’t be dressed in a respectable suit
Or tut-tut that the area’s going downhill
The Christ who’s the true Christ of Christmas
Is the one who stretches out open hands
Who welcomes the foreigner, the stranger, the poor,
With society’s outcasts he stands
He mixes with those whose lives are messy
Who don’t fit in society’s neat plan
In the midst of the unlovely, unlovable, unloved
By his life saying, “yes, with love, you can”
So let us all make the same call as they do
For Christ to return to our world
But the media might get more than they bargain for
When the true kingdom of Christ is unfurled.
And then there's all the ones since the blog started which I decided I might as well gather up here too:
https://stepsadventures.blogspot.com/2011/12/gift-of-christmas.html
https://stepsadventures.blogspot.com/2011/12/why-should-we-celebrate-christmas.html
https://stepsadventures.blogspot.com/2012/12/glimmers-of-hope.html
Thank you Steph, how sad that so many of your poems from almost 20 years ago, are still so resonant with the state of the world today. What an indictment on society. Let's hope when we revisit them in another 20 years or so, they don't still seem so relevant to the state of the world as it is then.
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