This is a poem that caters to the more depressive side of Christmas, a side which many people experience. I think it is partially inspired by a recent episode of the Depresh Mode Podcast, that talked about dealing with depression during the holidays. Hope your holidays are more sweet than bitter!
Orange band on the horizon,
Banner of a brand new day.
Christmas coming, no relenting,
Wash traditions all away.
Christmas coming, no relenting,
Family and friends alike,
All together, unrepenting,
Gentle, after months of strife.
Banner of a brand new day,
Our resolutions held on high.
Quick, returning to our ways,
Never even blink an eye.
Wash traditions all away,
Surviving it, the best we can.
Newness breaks the spell of ages,
Sends Tradition down the drain.
Yet nostalgia stirs our guilt,
That heavy batter, never stirred,
Christmas spice our senses fill,
Filling us with so much hurt.
Bones of Christmas now surround me:
An assembled skeleton.
Like a barren Christmas tree, it
Lacks the Decorator’s hand.
So this Christmas seems a waste,
It’s here, but in a far-off way.
Full of flavor, lacking taste.
Wish you could be here, today.
Copyright 2022 Andrea LeDew
For a few other Christmas poems, read At Christmas and Christmas This Year (2020). For a short story about meeting old friends at Christmas, read Fifteen: A Christmas Story. Merry Christmas!
A Beastly Quorum
Andrea—sometimes my iPhone plays games with me. This morning when I opened it, your poem Porch Swing from May 18, 2022 appeared on my screen.
You wrote this at an age far younger than I am now, but for me it is one of the most beautiful love poems for old couples. THANK YOU. It made my day—and will soon make Ray’s too when I will give it to him on his birthday. (He writes love poems to me on special occasions, but I can only play them 🎹)
Well, I would love for you both to come and sit on my porch swing together Margrit. You have made my day as well, by letting me know that a poem of mine brought you pleasure! So glad the ghost of poems past appeared to you on this wintry morning!