A Bonus Wish 2023

Frolicking snowflakes float through the air 
Red lights on houses of neighbours who care 
One Star that shines in the eastern night sky 
Sends a message of hope to you and to I. 
The Spirit of Christmas is catching, it’s true, like 
Yule logs ablaze it lights up me and you. 

The Christ Child was born to bring love to all men 
He died, and He rises again and again. 
Even though evil is still lurking ‘round, goodness will triumph,  
             and true peace be found. 

Silently, slowly, the year draws to a close 
Now is the time for a midwinter dose. 
On Dasher, on Dancer, keep Christmas hopes high 
With wonder to fill each tiny child’s eye. 
Merry Christmas to all, may you be of good cheer 
And may this be the start of a wonderful year. 
New friends and old favourites with you on your way, and may 
                laughter and sunshine fill all of your days. 

Some Assembly Required

It’s late Christmas Eve, the tree is still lit;
I should be in bed, but here I still sit.
Regretting each choice I have made in my life;
For surely, I should be a billionaire’s wife.

Instead, there are three kids upstairs in their beds,
And beside me a dog with a cone on her head.
The floor all around me is littered with parts
of gifts, treats, and toys for my three little farts.

They all seemed like good things back there in the stores;
Little did I know this would be such a chore!
That bicycle there nearly cost me a thumb,
and the train set instructions left me feeling quite dumb.

Barbie’s Dream Home needs an engineer crew –
The roof’s looking wonky and the back wall’s askew.
The tape’s stuck to everything but the gift wrap;
I wish we had coffee and Bailey’s on tap!

Should have started a week ago (or maybe last year?!?);
I may not get finished, I might shed a tear.
But I know with the first golden rays of the dawn,
the grumbles will stop, and the anger be gone.

When they run down the stairs and peek at the tree,
And the air is filled with their screeches of glee.
I’ll be a kid again too and the long night will fade,
In my memory none of the stress will have stayed.

Until next year, when at the same place and time,
I will once again curse all these children of mine!

Believe 2022

I believe in you and me
and Santa Claus
and Christmas Trees
That Love still shines from up above
even while we push and shove

I believe in simple stuff
like dingle balls
and Who-foo-fluff
That shrivelled adults hearts can swell
with each old story that we tell

I believe in the manger scene
and super-novas
and coffee beans
That wondrous things from view can hide
without a bit of faith inside

I believe the world will mend
and peace and love
will reign again
That we will find a better way
and live each day like Christmas Day

Pandemic Pressures at the North Pole

The Elves are getting cranky in their Workshop at the Pole;
They're running out of PPE and Naughty-List brand coal.
The masks just in are not the kind to fit their pointy ears;
They haven’t seen the Missus so depressed in all their years.

The toy stocks were growing well ‘til the BC flooding hit,
But without CP running trains the schedule’s gone to shit.
The bicycle department can’t get their tires out of customs,
So many Billies and Janies will be throwing Christmas tantrums.

With all these issues you’d think Santa would have turned to drinking,
But he’s retreated just to do some really heavy thinking.
The CEO of Santa Co. plans slow and steady gains,
By heading off an Elvin strike and managing supply chains.

You see, he’s seen this all before and made it through alright,
All he needs is to believe in the magic of Christmas night.
The piles of presents may be smaller but no small child without,
So don’t despair that you’ll be missed and put away your pout.

Merry Christmas, one and all, and here’s to another year.
May Santa make it to your house – you might want to leave him beer.

An Ode to 2020

Bah Humbug, I say!  This 
Long year of the plague!  My
Usual cheer is distant and vague. With
Every face masked and hearts

Chilled with fear – I doubt it will be such a 
Happy New Year.
Rising case counts keep us locked up
Inside, where
Sleigh bells won’t jingle and
Tinsel won’t shine.  But….
Maybe by next year my poem will  be
Again filled with joy and not such misery.
Stay safe and stay well and in time we’ll be together again underneath the tree.

Wishful thinking

Oh, to be a dog on a log in the middle of a bog,
with the sun falling down all around.

Oh, to be a moose on the loose on the back of a caboose,
with the sun falling down all around.

Oh, to be a bug on a rug in the middle of a hug,
with the sun falling down all around.

Oh, to be a cat in a hat sleeping on a yoga mat,
with the sun falling down all around.

Oh, to be a whale eating kale while a turtle cleans her tail,
with the sun falling down all around.

Oh!

But maybe…

Perhaps…

The dog on the log,
and the moose on the loose,
and the bug on the rug,
and the cat on the mat,
and the whale eating kale,

Are just like me…

As happy as can be…

With the sun falling down all around.

Christmas Joy

Puffy warm snowsuits and mittens on strings
Mugs of warm cocoa and sleigh bells that ring
Long winter shadows on short sunny days
That Christmastime feeling comes so many ways.

A star in the East and a star on the tree
A wee gift from you and another from me
Shortbread and whiskey leave friends in a daze
That Christmastime feeling comes so many ways.

Flakes on the window and boots crunching snow
Miles of bright lights left to twinkle and glow
Linus and Rudolph and Frosty for days
That Christmastime feeling comes so many ways.

This loveable writer has one wish, it’s true – That she brings that Christmastime feeling to you!

Adulting Halloween

Witchy says that Frankie’s got his nuts all in a knot.

The Werewolf’s shedding fur and Mummy’s wraps keep getting caught.

The Skeleton is shivering and the Vampire’s lost his teeth.

The Clown say she’s too hot with that darn snowsuit underneath.

The Robot’s getting cranky and the Ghost has ripped his sheet.

I wish I hadn’t taken all these kids for tricks and treats!

Frozen in Suspense

It was the scream that made her remember.  She hadn’t meant to forget, but the whole thing had happened in the dead of winter, so what else was she supposed to do?

Another bone chilling scream came from the other room and she remembered that it had happened the winter before last, too.  The goosebumps of surprise on her skin took her back to the day it had happened – well, days it had happened, as they had really both died in similar ways, hadn’t they? She could remember the twisted limbs, the blood and hair stuck to the bars of the cage she had kept first one and then the other in for months.  The shock of finding each one gone so soon, before she could really have some fun with them.

With a sigh of regret, she got up off the couch and went to the kitchen to face the music.

“Calm down, Mum,” she said from the doorway.  Her mother was hyperventilating by the dishwasher, forgotten trays of freezer-burnt meat piled in the sink beside her, already wearing frosty fur-coats in the humid summer air.

“Why are there two dead bodies in my freezer?”, her mother exclaimed between wheezes.

“Well,” she said, “I couldn’t bury them in January, could I?” She reached into the back of the freezer and picked up the two Ziploc bags.

“Well, you get those hamsters out of my kitchen this minute! Out to the back garden with you and bury them deep enough that the cat can’t get to them again.”

“Yes, Mum,” she said, heading for the screen door.  “Sheesh, you’d think I’d stored a human head in there or something…”

Merry Christmas, Mother Earth

It’s been one hundred years since the War to End Wars,
And we’ve still yet to learn what humanity’s for.
We turned swords into plowshares then pillaged the earth,
And the wild things are crying, in spite of our mirth.

In my youth we were told we could each change the world,
But like an old photograph that is faded and curled,
Hopeful words lost their meaning when towers fell down,
And the earth just keeps warming in city and town.

But if peace can be found in just one faithful heart,
And if some still are left who are brave, quick and smart,
Then perhaps not all’s lost for the next century –
If our voices sing louder than hate and fury.

Then the polar bear might ever walk on the snow,
And the next generation true peace they may know.
The orcas will still swim for miles in the sea,
And we’ll bury our guns and know true liberty.

From the man on the cross to the men in the trenches,
They all look to us to tear down the last fences.
Remembrance Day, Christmas and each passing day
Lend a chance for to start to live life a new way.

May we all walk together, and each do our part,
To stand up to darkness and light it with heart.
For our true nature isn’t to hate and to fight –
My friends, we are all born to follow the Light.