Prayers Made Out of Christmas: Poems

PRAYERS MADE OUT OF CHRISTMAS

Bach fugues and silence!
That organ within my mind exhales
the snapped note toward darkness

…and outside the days
lean and wait for snow or drizzle
to insulate
whatever dreams of Jesus and the Virgin
are still seeded in my heart.

Every life in three score years or more
knows hardship
as well as a fleeting joy

bade to last forever
like the story
of an infant boy…

LOVE IN THE COLDER MONTHS

Were it not for you, sweet girl,
December would be a dark month
full of the underworld’s deep sorrow
while shadows stretch
through snow and clouds
blindingly white during the day
till midnight is blanched in pitch…

with undisturbed joy
…celebrations in a kiss!
I am once again a boy!,
in the season’s blissful reckonings!

A DRUNKARD’S CHRISTMAS CAROL

I dreamed into a bright and senile life!

…and then    as leaves cast by wind drift into darkness
so the light and breezy days have left me

and Christmases were once upon a time
and love is so much less a fairy tale

like dry dreams soaked by whiskey rum and wine
drowning out the fire and song and ale!

AN APPROACHING WINTER

Age thins the skin
and a damp cold seeps through the pores
in a late Autumn baptism
of rain become ice

…Winter in a few days!
And those brutal births
which bade an uncertain future
for wandering wraiths
given a little gold and sweet smelling gifts
by wise men such as I
…always stingy of heart!