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Monday, December 13, 2021

Searching for Hope in the Season of Expectation

 


I remember the smell of incense,
the swinging censer, the tinkle
of the bells, the feeling of holiness
and expectation at midnight mass.
That year my sister, age seven, 
played Mary in the school play,
her long blonde hair falling
down her back, as she fussed
over Baby Jesus, making sure
the blanket covered him.
I had an exciting secret: that year
I painted a room in the basement
and set it up as a playroom for her.

All was expectation and dreams,
back then. Now my pleasures
are quiet ones: the coloured lights,
the thought of traveling
through the mountains
to the farm, how my sister's dog
will get so excited at my return,
how I will visit the horses, in their stalls,
their breath making soft clouds
in the chilly air. Their soft noses will whuff
at me, searching for carrots.


Inside, a warm fire, the aromatic tree
with all the lights, giving the dog
her Christmas toys.
Once a time of anticipation,
it is now a quieter contemplation,
following the familiar rituals
in a topsy-turvy world.
Some of us watch talk shows
where the women are glittery,
talking about Christmas parties
and gifts as if nothing has changed.
The rest of us watch the news: tornadoes,
devastation, reporters shaking their heads:
"We've never seen anything like this before."

The earth, frozen and packed,
following her eternal cycles,
still holds the promise of
life and new growth: seeds
suspended, awaiting the
warmth of spring;
small fur beings huddled
in hidden caverns,
sleeping through the cold.
Mother Earth,  resting through
the dark winter, as the season
turns and turns, waiting for
humankind to awaken
from our long sleep.

at earthweal we are contemplating advent poems for earth.



10 comments:

  1. Absolutely lovely poem..There is such a gentleness about it. Have a lovely Christmas at your sister's farm. Your description of midnight mass made me a little tearful...it is something I love and I wont be going again this year You have a beautiful soul Sherry. God bless you.

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  2. Sweet glittery and fragrant remembrance here of childhood's Christmas - you make of it a chapel -- and have the maturity to carry it forth into what adulthood means for us personally but also for the planet. Three steps in starlit wonder here.

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  3. I also admire the candle shape with the flame atop. You keep the candle burning, Sherry ~

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  4. I liked the progression of this poem, starting with the nostalgia of childhood memories, to the quietness but warmness of today's holiday times, to the realism and the waiting for humanity to wake up. A thoughtful poem, Sherry.

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  5. Those Christmas childhood memories really chimed with me, Sherry: I always wanted to be Mary in the school play, but didn't have the right look, apparently!

    I feel this poem moves with the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future: how long before we awaken and come to our senses?

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  6. Very good - I like the way you draw parallels between the seeds in the frozen ground and the awakening of human consciousness. Suzanne - Mapping Uncertainty.

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  7. Glorious! When expectation turns to contemplation, we still let the turning of eternal things/rituals/knowledge guide our steps and hold our calm.
    "The earth, frozen and packed,
    following her eternal cycles,
    still holds the promise of
    life and new growth . . . "

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  8. You take us on a journey so much has changed since the innocence of childhood. Today, all that glitters isn't gold...the gold is the gift of life and our planet.

    Wishing you a joyous holiday my friend.

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  9. So beautiful Sherry. A gentle embrace of all that this time is to us now.

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  10. Sherry — May the joy of the season fill your heart here at the closing if the year 2021, and may peace abide in 2022. This is a most difficult time for our planet earth, and a time of turmoil for its peoples. May 2022 begin the way back! ✌🏼❤️🌎

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