The house is in disarray
from the company of beloved children
and the sweet chaos of a new baby.
Decorations are brought out from closets and armoires,
trees lit and shiny remnants of years past,
hung from ancient wire
the deepening dark brightened
as we move into the shortened days
of December.
This is the first time,
in a long time,
that I have looked forward with happy anticipation
to the holidays,
free from the worries
of other peoples
needs and their justifications of year end demands.
I am relieved of all that
and can dream those December dreams
when the air is festive
with angels
and wise men follow a star.
thecourseofourseasons 
And so it should always be. Feliz Navidad y un Feliz Año Nuevo
You are a master spell weaver of verse Kathleen! This is an amazing poem. It makes me appreciate the fact that these verses are what both Thanksgiving and Christmas are all about, giving thanks for all your blessings and celebrating the birth of our Savior, Jesus. The gathering of family to share in the festivities is a tradition that is precious. 😀💜
So happy you like this, Keith. We had such a wonderful Thanksgiving getting to know our new great nephew – he is such a sweetie pie!
I’m happy that you had a great time with your family and enjoyed your new nephew. You deserved the happiness. I had a good time with my wife’s family this Thanksgiving I got to see both of my step grand daughters and found out soon there will be a third grand baby sometime next April. It was a blessed day all around this year despite my struggle with feeling like I didn’t fit in. I wrote a poem about it later that day. I also really like your new post, the emotional power that radiates from the imagery is awesome! It inspired me to try and write about my feelings from my youth to come to terms and finally put those demons to rest. You are one of the best poets I’ve ever read, seriously.
I can relate…I’m not responsible for church Sunday School program this year!
Oh my gosh – that is huge! That takes up so much time and energy – what will you do with all that time and energy now 🙂
Enjoy every wonderful leisurely moment. Retirement is glorious, is it not? LOVE those candles on the armoire.
Retirement does lend itself to rediscovery including cleaning out stuff! When cleaning out cupboards, I found we had all those candlesticks! And there were candles stuck away in drawers and closets and no where else to put them all but on top of the china cabinet – happy you like them!
You seem to have found what I have lost…or what I’m looking for!
I had lost it a bit that past few years – a job too time consuming and stressful – now released to someone else’s concern. Caring for Mom leaves me time to savor the little joys I had missed – decorating (though not as extravagantly as we once did), baking, sharing time with friends and family, and sometimes just sitting and thinking.
I hope you find a bit of all those things that bring you joy.
K
Beautiful post!! 💖😊💖😊
Thanks, Trini – seems impossible that it is already the Advent season!