Saturday, December 21, 2013

Christmas Mess (Jesus, Take Me Away!): My Christmas Poem This Year

Twas a few days before Christmas
And things haven't calmed down at all
But it was time to share this year's poem
Before heading again to the mall

Drum roll (d-d-d-d-d-d-d):


That's my Christmas poem with all the pictures added, but here it is in a bit more readable format:

Christmas Mess (Jesus, Take Me Away!)

            A word of advice from writers is to just write what you’re feeling
Okay… Everything’s a jumbled mess!  I need some Christmas healing!

              So let’s just jump into the fray
              To see what’s on my mind today:
          Why is this Christmas such a struggle
               With so many things in the air to juggle?
     I shoveled the walk and cleaned the eaves
          Haven’t set up the tree, never finished the leaves
     Everything is URGENT, everything is CRITICAL
I’m tired of all the little fights, familial and political

The world is a disaster, and we’re breathing putrid smog
     I’ve barely touched my journal, haven’t posted in my blog
     I’ve written a poem tying Christmas to the ocean blue
Don’t like it… won’t share it… bit off more than I could chew
The pictures are in disarray and I haven’t even been cropping
We’re eating out too much with all the shopping
     shopping         Shopping         SHOPPING!
We shop on mornings and weekends since I now work night shifts
     Everything’s so expensive, and I can’t find the right gifts

Mom’s arms, legs and back have been hurting, and my sinuses are a joke
   The weather has turned freezing cold & the refrigerator just broke
     My tropical fish haven’t been doing all that well lately, no sir!
There’s more gifts to buy and Christmas is  inching   ever   closer!
And I still have to engage this whole new healthcare endeavor
There’s still cards and decorating, and this poem is taking forever!
     It seems we’re so busy sometimes, we’re just about ready to drop
The DVR is almost full and we need to bake …    STOP!

            This isn’t at all what Christmas is supposed to be about!
            Things can get so out of hand and turned so inside out!
            Christmas can get so jumbled, we miss the reason it’s here
            Lost in a mess of our making, the meaning is no longer clear
                        That cut to the core, Christmas has always been just about Jesus
                        A celebration of His birth, and His death on the cross that frees us
                        From our burden of sin that we’d all die from without
                        The willing sacrifice of Christ!  That’s what Christmas is about!

     That’s the Christmas message I really want to convey
   Now God, get me off this crazy ride; Jesus, lead the way!

Gary Van Buren                                                                                                     Christmas 2013