Christmas Poems: 2020

Christmas 2020

Christmas 2020

Dear Friends and Family,

We are sending you our Christmas greetings from Ann Arbor, MI, USA with a video e-card, which we posted on YouTube, here, and below. The text and photos also appear below. Best wishes for a Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday,

Ed & Shirley

Dandelion

The dandelions have gone to seed

and a once sickly field

has gone white with pods;

the wind shakes and carries

its seeds upward

as if snowing in reverse;

you stoop to pick one

and contemplate its single hope,

then make a wish,

blow hard,

and watch it join the flurry

to fall and find

new ground.

24 Dec 20

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Christmas 2019

Christmas 2019

Dear Friends and Family,

Ed & Shirley

Chocolates

We were just remembering

scenes from Forrest Gump

when the box of chocolates arrived,

just days after you left us.

The image of your gnarled hands

working the iPad screen

to ensure no one

was forgotten for the holidays

lingers;

that was who you were

giving before you gave

your final breath.

Grace sometimes travels

through the mail

in ways we may not see,

but it arrives

nonetheless.

We cannot remove the ribbon yet

and will save it for the gathering

around a meal with others

who come

as we came to your home

that first time

and tasted of the life

given away;

you taught us that,

and we will ever know

which one

we get.

"… life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get." --Forrest Gump:

A package from Alice arrived today, seven days after she passed

I can say no more than this...

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Christmas 2018

Christmas 2018

Dear Friends and Family,

Ed & Shirley

Communion

They run from the altar rail

having tasted the elements,

a pause in their play

this trio of young ladies

the Magi of the present

have come,

to pay homage to this rite

of passage

someone born

someone died

someone come again.

25 Nov 18

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Saturday, December 26, 2020

Christmas 2020

Dear Friends and Family,

Christmas 2019

Dear Friends and Family,

Christmas 2018

Dear Friends and Family,