Time to Slice Up the Fruitcake With Friends and Family
A GIFT OF CHRISTMAS POEMS
“…time to slice up the Fruitcake
It’s time we hung some tinsel on that evergreen bough.
For we need a little music,
Need a little laughter,
Need a little singing
Ringing through the rafter,
And we need a little snappy
“Happy ever after,”
At the end of every Thanksgiving,
the end of the meal worth saving,
find myself in garage
to muscle and dislodge
boxes where Christmas mice are playing.
To pack our children in their car seats
and fill their bellies with Christmas treats
off! To go get our tree
no better place to be
then out in the cold praying for heat.
With peppermint hot chocolate in hand
we hang the lights on the tree as planned
Dad hangs up the tinsel
our Christmas bells jingle
on the best tree in our Christmas land.
Our mantle becomes a Christmas town
multiple porcelain Santas found
Where every wreath is placed
our candy canes to taste
now to wait on our Christmas countdown.
THE DAY TINSEL WAS OUTLAWED
Though reasons were proper to outlaw.
to keep it out of every cat’s paw.
It can make kitty choke,
certainly not a joke
when wrapped around our black’s upper jaw.
Never an animal came to harm
on Christmas when tinsel added charm.
A box of silver saved
as if our tree was paved
by sprinkles that never cause harm.
On this year we were short blue tinsel.
One item to make things official
when I went to the store,
“We don’t sell that no more.
Too dangerous to our cats to sell.”
Instead I bought the alternative
attempt to change the tree narrative
trying more candy canes
pine cones on window panes
my wife was a little more pensive.
Yet Christmas came anyway that year.
A Christmas full of all of its cheer
without any tinsel
the lights they still twinkle.
It turns out we had nothing to fear.
Therefore I found a reason to sing a Christmas song aloud.
A CHRISTMAS SONG
My children like to play on fallen snow.
To burrow in the snow as if in caves.
A time that every youthful spirit saves
to make a snowman watch the snowfall grow.
Family to feel the warmth of Jesus birth
under the tree whose branches hold the world,
to hear the angels sing “Hark the Herald,”
to light the candles placed upon our hearth.
We gather for midnight mass at Mom’s church.
We park in the same spot every year
only thinking of gifts under the tree.
An Elf on the Shelf sits upon his perch,
he knows that Santa’s sleigh is near.
Our children’s smiles as far as one can see.
Thus the season becomes a gathering of all the members of our families from close and from afar.
HOLIDAY WITH THE IN-LAWS
With the Holidays come the in-laws,
when we gather our family as cause.
An odd mixture of moods
over Holiday foods
and humor that will force us to pause.
One sister will play on Holidays
with the boys running down the hallways
as they yell as a group,
as one loud screaming troop,
she will release a “whoop” to amaze.
The real drama will be with the food.
What to eat without being rude?
The small vegan seed wrap
or fresh celery snap.
To find meat without starting a feud.
Or the In-Law who drinks too much booze
who will lounge like on a pleasure cruise
while we sit and converse
on our lives and our course
over snores from our In-Laws deep snooze.
Or the In-Law who eats all the pie
every year we keep asking them why
they will eat the pumpkin
with a huge crusty grin
while the rest of us stare with a sigh.
While the family sits by the tree
there’s the In-Law who watches T.V.
A loud sporting event
they’ve been watching all lent,
“but this season was something to see!”
This is how Christmas really should be.
To show love for all our family
with our smiles and our hugs
and our hot chocolate mugs
seeing gifts under lit Christmas tree.
A wish for a Happy Holiday!
A peaceful day for the children to play!
For family and friends
with gracious open hands
with true love and true blessings to stay.
As a result of all these Christmas sweets I have the energy to make a snowman and go sledding after.
SWEET BUTTERY CHRISTMAS TREATS
If lists were made of all that feel my love
I’m sad to say that near the top, butter
and sugar, flour mixed for each flavor
on display, so sweet like a morning dove.
But like all love, sometimes the pleasure
will bring me back to the birth of my child
or when our eyes met and we first smiled,
times of confidence when we felt footsure.
So we can see in books that love is cruel
when we smile too long in sugary joy
with need and desire we consume all
with no control we eat like a fool
our minds devious plan or some odd ploy
to eat our cake and feel our earthly fall.
On Holiday Treats
When I think on those Holidays past
the season it goes by too fast
probably the sugar
with butter and flour
this Holiday sugar rush won’t last.
Sugar cookies are no longer shared
the frosting was so thickly layered
each bite I felt the rush
a sort of cookie lush
the type where the sprinkles are paired.
In the basket is more than cookies
this shortbread was not made by rookies
a morsel of delight
a Pecan Ball in sight
Oh! Take this wager to the bookies.
Even now I feel slightly sick
with no sugar to make me tick
Wait! Some hidden chocolate
enough to keep me late
but again it will be gone too quick.
In conclusion I would like to wish this Holiday wish as loud as loud can be.
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY
HOLIDAYS FROM MY FAMILY TO YOURS
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Jamie,
Thank you for a beautiful glimpse of the holidays with your beautiful family. Had no idea blue tinsel had been banned. How I am craving a mug of peppermint hot cocoa. Wishing you and yours a Merry Christmas!
Blessings Always,
Kym
Thank you for sharing your family’s Christmas routine with us through this wonderful collection of poetry, Jamie. A pleasure to read.
Jamie, this is a lovely Christmas post full of love, good cheer, and delight. Thank you, dear friend, for sharing this wonderful work – I so enjoyed reading it.
I wish you and your loved ones a blessed Merry Christmas and a New Year of love, joy, and prosperity. Take care.
You have certainly brought in the spirit of Christmas with your wonderful poems Jamie. Thank you for sharing them with us all here at TCE. It warms my heart to read Christmas poems, they have a very cheery note and that’s something we all can never have too much of. I wish you and yours a very blessed, healthy and joyous Christmas. Stay safe and keep this wonderful time and spirit of thankfulness. Cheers my friend.
Ho, ho, ho what jolly good fun. Thank you for sharing your holidays. Enjoyed the poems very much. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and yours!
Love the Christmas spirit that resides within you Jamie. Wishing you and yours a wonderful Christmas and a healthy and Happy new Year!!
This is awesome. I enjoyed reading and I have been reminded of the amazing holiday times with family and friends.
Thank you Shonen it is a pleasure hearing from you and reading your comment. I am very appreciative. Jamie