Hoping

Hoping
For a Christmas
Getting together with
Those we love and care about most
Hoping
For a winter
With a family kept safe
And no gruelling home schooling
Hoping
For a new year
Getting out and about
A return to normality
Hoping
Hoping...

Christmas Dreams and Fears

Do you dream of bright wrapped boxes
Full of expensive gifts?
Or do you fear your kids going without
If you don't get those extra shifts?

Do you dream of that after dinner feeling
Contented and well fed?
Or do you fear for another Christmas
Without a roof over your head?

Do you dream of seeing the family
How your nephews have all grown?
Or do you fear that your help won't come
Elderly and all alone?

Do you dream of falling snow
A blanket cold and white?
Or do you fear for rising seas
A world ready to ignite?

Do you dream of getting Brexit done
A nation strong and free?
Or do you fear for the vulnerable
Cast aside like human debris?

Turning

The year is turning
Switching once more
As one window closes
We open the door

New opportunities
To solve all our ills
If we offer some effort
And focus our wills

We've seen refugees
And more bombing raids
Political posturing
And diplomatic charades

The rich have got richer
All their nests to feather
The poor make do with less
Are we still in it together?

While the climate continues
To throw all it can
To prove that it's changing
And yet still we plan

To burn fossil fuels
To exploit and to frack
The only nature we have
And we won't get it back

But with new beginnings
We always have hope
There's no point in weeping
To hide away and mope

We must use our voices
Stand up and say
Think for the future
And choose another way

We must save this planet
As we must save ourselves
From the hurt we have wrought
And we can't invoke elves

Or Gods to save us
In whatever faiths we hold
There is only us
We must learn to be bold

Why not share an idea
Of peace in our time
Sing it or write it
In prose or in rhyme

And fight for the good
Which we all hold within
Express it, describe it
In a New Year
A new world to begin

Tree

When the seasonal greenery
Struggles to last
It's surely a sign
That Christmas has passed
And if it makes it through
The whole twelve days
It still sits with an air
Of general malaise

You see it browning
You see it wilting
Long arms drooping
And tall head tilting
Losing it's needles
Scatter by scatter
While too heavy baubles
Fall with a clatter

And it almost seems
To be unfair
To put it through
Such arboreal despair
Despite colour in the corner
That it's occupying
Day by day
It's slowly dying

Holidays

It’s the day inbetween

When nothing much goes on

Thegifts have grown boring

The guests have all gone

Still no sign in the air

That there might be snow

Perhaps there’s another sale

To which you can go

But the house is a mess

With the uneaten cake

Still piles of mince pies

And leftover steak

Chocolate wrappers

With wrapping on the floor

And you wonder what caused

That scratch on the door

At least you’ve got work

To go to tomorrow

Though that is a thought

That also brings sorrow

Wouldn’t it be nicer

To have more bank holidays

When the days are much longer

With warming sun’s rays

Overindulgence

A man this Christmas

Ate so much stuffing

When he went for a walk

He was huffing and puffing

A man this Christmas

Ate brandy pears

And as a result

Couldn’t get up the stairs

A man this Christmas

Ate so many buns

That at night he got

An attack of the runs

A man this Christmas

Drank so much wine

He fell and rolled

Down a steep incline

A man this Christmas

Ate so many sweets

He ended up sending

Some embarrassing tweets

A man this Christmas

And his mistletoe kisses

Got him deeply in trouble

With an unhappy Mrs

A man this Christmas

And his overindulgence

Did radiate out

With extreme refulgence

Aftermath

Feeling stuffed

And hungover

Unwashed dishes

And on the stove a

Stain you don’t

Remember making

During the cooking

And turkey baking

Floor is covered

In wrapping and crumbs

And underwear

That could be Mum’s

But at least the kids

Are still asleep

And the toys remain

In a scattered heap

It’s an overindulgence

Full of stress

A surfeit of food

And a crazy mess

So on Boxing Day

Run a nice warm bath

And forget about

The aftermath

Traditions

For some, tradition is an argument

For others it’s a glass of champagne

Many will have gone to midnight mass

A morning lie-in to gain

Many will have turkey for dinner

For others only a chicken will do

Duck, goose and rabbit are choices

But only for a very select few

Some will watch the Queen’s speech

Others make a point to ignore

Some will have drunk so much by this time

That they have started to snore

Do you play charades in the evening

Twister; A jigsaw or two

Are the kids tired out and fallen asleep

Or still making a hullabaloo

Whatever your traditions at Christmas

I wish you love and cheer

With plenty of food on the table

With friends and family near

Hustomten

In the dark morning
Of a cold Christmas Eve
And while you are sleeping
The house elf will leave

A pile of presents
Stacked up by the bed
And nobody sees him
Not even your ted

He'll spirit away
His job done for the year
In a tinkling of bells
Not that you'd hear

He has access to magic
And that's how he knows
Wrapping up what you want
In ribbons and bows

So it's time to say thank you
He'll know if you've not
And the gifts for next year
Might not count for a lot

You must always be grateful
When you're in your play pen
For the care and generosity
Of our Hustomten

Resolution

A new year’s resolution

Is a revolution of the mind

A desire to bring change; Evolve

To find a different you

Dissolve your faults and remind

Yourself to enjoy life

Excise those addictions

And prejudiced convictions

Be kind to others

See the best in the world

Fill in the self-dug holes

Stop playing the roles

That define you negatively

And blind you to reality

A chance to start again

Depart from the past

Leave behind and cast off

Your worn out clothes

Redress and address desires

Burning ambitions

And rise from the fires

Like a phoenix refreshed

Made anew

A new start

For a new year