Christmas 2009

From A Child's Calendar by John Updike. This poem's last line gets me choked up every time I read it. For me, it signifies and sums up so much of how I feel right now. This past year held so much change, hardship and stress for my family. It is impossible to look back and not feel the pain of 2009. And yet when I read this poem first published in 1965, I somehow feel some restoration and dare I say it, HOPE.

December

First Snow! The flakes,
So few, so light,
Remake the world
In solid white.

All bundled up,
We feel as if
We were fat penguins,
Warm and stiff.

The toy-packed shops
Half Split their sides,
And Mother brings home
Things she hides.

Old carols peal.
The dusk is dense.
There is a mood
Of sweet suspense.

The shepherds wait,
The kings, the tree -
All wait for something
Yet to be,

Some miracle,
And then it's here,
Wrapped up in hope -
Another year!

I am thinking of all of you, my fellow bloggers with love and appreciation for all that we have shared the past weeks and months. I cannot imagine life without your support, concern and advice. My Christmas wish for all of us and the world is peace and hope. I love you all and will be thinking of you throughout today.