Twas the week before Christmas and all through the days
the good folk prepared in peculiar
ways.
They hung coloured lights strung from
here to there,
not a corner neglected, not a tree left
bare.
Hydro lines hummed, electricity surged,
the night sky illuminated and the
darkness was purged.
Electric Jesus' glowed, ostentatious
and fine.
Mary, Joseph and peeps in a Vegas
chorus line.
Hot air blow-ups replaced real snow
women and men.
Twinkling deer sat in decoy between
Grinch and penguin.
All this fanfare, I find, makes my head
spin a little.
When it started, I muse, is a bit of a
riddle.
One thing's for certain, makes me miss
days of old
when we strung paper chains in red,
green and gold.
Merry snow folk gathered in the fronts
of our yards,
donning carrots and sticks and old
mittens and scarves.
Our trees weren't manicured; no spray
painted limbs.
They glowed proudly with tinsel, glass
balls and homemade things.
I'm not saying it was better, just
simpler and gentler.
We didn't need glam, glitz and pomp at
the center.
