steel teeth
drag through the
ashes
stirring black flakes
of used to be
wrapping paper
rising in the breeze
with memories.
shiny gold, and
green, red, blue
Christmas balls
slip from the tree,
with used to be
joy, hope
and peace
until next season
as if the season
became the reason,
bringing all good things
to an end,
with a sigh of relief;
cardboard boxes
in the shadows
of the basement.
It always amazes me how quickly things return to the way the used to be as soon as the holidays are done. It is a choice.
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67 comments:
I don't wait for Christmas to be nice- but it does make it easier...
Just because the decorations are boxed away for another year, yeah, shouldn't mean goodwill to others should be too. True dat.
Hum...It is a choice...very poignant...
Being that I am somewhat OCD about my daily routine, I kind of like it when things get back to normal.
anymore the holidays seem to be an interuption, instead of an occassion...
maybe we should break out the Christmas music more in the between months....instead of oversaturating the airwaves from November to January 1...keep the message alive all year long!
Awww, Brian, your poem makes me want to give you a {{{hug}}}. It touched me.
Yes, the way they used to be, but as you say, with the memories.
Your poetry captures the mood so well. I will always recall the one about the hands in the store.
Dianne
Christmas EveryDay...
I find it is the weather..
In NYC people are cheerful when boarding buses and all on warm days.. but rainy; chilly; cloudy days.. people are not so friendly.
I am trying to be HAPPY towards others and polite all the time (even when I don't feel it to be honest...on such damp cold days).
Hope your children enjoyed Christmas..
Hugs to you, your wife; children; parents and love ones..
I do hope you let us know how your mother is doing. Hope she enjoyed christmas.
It is a good thing to put the ornaments and decorations away, but hopefully the spirit remains throughout the year.
Great poem Brian.
We keep our decorations up intil 12th night which I make 5 Jan.
My daughter when she was 3 used to think Baby Jesus lived in the attic with the Christmas Decorations and came down once a year into our living room. This was before she knew about his Omnipresence LOL
You're right, it is a choice. I try to keep the tree up as long as I can. Well at least until New Years, I hate when Christmas ends!
(Merry Christmas a day late!)
Yes, a choice. And this year if feels really good for some reason.
Your stuff is put away already?
I am glad things return back to the way they were, for the most part. I couldn't handle this happiness all year round.
Going along with g-man...we prob'ly won't take ours down for a while yet.
I was a bad mom this year. We only put out a little of the xmas stuff. Just too busy driving my kids around town to decorate. I am glad to pack away the little that we did put out until next year.
You have little ones? Young ones are great at Christmas.
did you take the Christmas tree already down??!?
no wonder that it all starts so early in the USA if it's over already. In Belgium trees remain up until the 3 kings came (Epiphany - Jan 6)...then many towns organize a big tree bonfire or a tree pick-up. The Christmas vacation is only halfway so nothing back to normal for us yet... We're still recovering from the food indigestion.
I could tell you that I leave up the tree until the Epiphany as a reminder that Christmas is a state of mind that should be ever present year round. In reality, I hate taking down the tree as if the magic is locked up until next year...and the fact I HATE the actual act of un-decorating and storing things up...ugggghhhh!
You are right. It is a choice...
Lisa
You are right, Brian..everything is ALWAYS a choice.
That would be quick if you are taking the three down already and boxing up the decorations.
All that work..and then it is over!
At least you got a gorgeous post out of it:)
Hope you don't mind another follower:)
I choose to keep the holiday going for a bit longer... any old excuse to avoid the usual routines!
It's sad that people's 'spirit' only comes out at Christmas but that's probably got something to do with all the alcohol inside them! lol
ah, me too, me too.
I think this year I'm gonna leave my tree up til Jan 2. The last couple yrs we've taken it down early (fresh clean start to the new year) on New years eve.
But the last couple yrs haven't been so good, lol. So I don't think that theory works. For me anyhow, lol
Good point. It's not the ornaments or tinsel that make the season what it is -- it is the camaraderie, good humor, and willingness to be kind.
Pearl
either you took your tree down quickly or you're projecting. I was so tired from all the hubbub I stayed on the couch or the bed all day, reading blogs, writing in my own. I'm even watching a rerun of the Pat Rafter/Goran Ivanesevic 2001 Wimbledon Championship! (I adored Patrick Rafter)
My kids and husband and MIL weren't much more ambitious than I. Our house will stay messy a few more days. :)
Hi! Brian,
Nice post...as usual.
Brian said,"It always amazes me how quickly things return to the way the used to be as soon as the holidays are done. It is a choice."
My thoughts...exactly, but like some of your previous commenters' said, I do try to be nice all year round too!...
...By the way, I hope that you and your family have a safe, hopeful, and Happy New Year too!
DeeDee ;-D
Tom said,"maybe we should break out the Christmas music more in the between months....instead of oversaturating the airwaves from November to January 1...keep the message alive all year long!
Hi! Brian and Tom...
...Tom, I must admit that I sometimes do listen to Christmas music with (earphones) on all year round...not because I love Christmas (per se,) but the "hope" or positive messages that pervade Christmas songs.
By the way, Brian,
Happy New Year! to all your readers, and to you to Tom and your family too!...
Hi! C.G.
...and Happy New Year to you and your family too!
DeeDee ;-D
I absolutely FORCE myself to leave the decorations up a short while PAST Christmas day. My need to have ORDER restored is intense though! It is an internal battle! ;)
The first week the kids go back to school I go on a TAZMANIAN DEVIL whirlwind of order and routine!
I have to say, I'm with Otin. I like regular everyday much better. This season makes me so nervous. It's just too much, even the pressure to be nice...lol...I hope that doesn't make me too evil!!!
Normal life is sane, doable on a daily basis. Thank God.
And a choice, as you so wisely pointed out. A choice I look forward to as soon as the relatives and friends have gone to their respective homes.
I just like to act like it is Christmas all year round. So much so, that I don't even feel much of the urge to over-the-top decorate. It is a choice.
this season is a double edge sword...we run and run and run, pushing ourselves...we also see many peoples heart more than any other time...its the heart i would like to sustain...
I go tthe garland down and tree indecorated and out, but I'm procrastinating about packing away the ornaments.
I like and dislike this season. People are nicer but crazier. lol There is so much love and madness at the same time! haha
I'm glad it is over I can finally go out to the mall and no one will be pushing me or fighting over stuff. lol
excellent.
and yes, i believe it is.
Found your site quite by accident, and what do I find...people already with their decorations packed away!
Hey! This is only the second day of Christmas!
Remember The Twelve Days of Christmas? That takes you up to 6th January when all decorations should be taken down!
BAH! HUMBUG!!!
Christmas lives on in your heart for the rest of the year, it doesn't last only one or two days!
Come on, all you wet blankets, give my site a visit and see what Christmas is all about!
Seasons Greetings to one and all!!!
Oftentimes hard to keep the change we want.
TRUE THAT! This is what I've been saying for weeks. Great piece Brian. I'm glad you posted and thank you for visiting mine :) See you next Friday.
The scene does go from stacks of pretty packages to a pile of paper trash very quickly. And I agree with Otin, I like to get my house back to normal order. I have even take my tree down on Christmas night before. But I'm trying to learn to go with the flow when it comes to festive disarray : )
It would be great if we could get rid of the scrap wrapping paper and bows while keeping the spirit alive. Why is that so hard?
And it's a choice I would keep all year round LOL. This was wonderful my friend. You are such an excellent writer :)
"I will honor Christmas in my heart and keep it all the year!" :)
Pack away the things, keep the sentiment.
Good observation, neatly said.
Wow, that was fast. -J
I'm taking the decorations down tomorrow. It's time to get back to normal. Plus, Hubby's birthday is coming up.
Hope your Christmas was wonderful.
Smiles!!
wow. you put your tree away already? i usually have mine up until after new year's. of course, i tend to put it up so close to christmas, it's worth it to have the scent of pine needles lingering a tad longer. i watched It's a Wonderful Life last night. it's my favourite of all the holiday movies. Not to take our lives for granted. Not to live them in regret. The ability to realize how each act, however small, we may perform can affect other people's lives (and our own) as some positive ripple in the great, big pond that is Life. The spirit of the season is a good one to hold onto all year round. Funny that your cousin wrote about 'operation' yesterday - because your post is like some kind of 'Open Heart' surgery. thanks for the reminder, Brian.
I've almost got it all put away. I'll be finished soon. I try to be the same all year. Maybe that's not a good thing?
I have lights around the windows in my house. I call them my "happy lights" because I live so far north that it gets dark pretty early in the winter. I'm leaving them up till March. :)
I don't put my decorations up till late; therefore, they are taken down late. =)
Great writing dude.
--Terrace Crawford
www.terracecrawford.com
www.twitter.com/terracecrawford
but the holiday shoudln't be done yet Brian! Already packing things way? Oh, could no way do that after all the build-up and hoopla getting here to xmas day. Hope your return back to work on Sunday goes well. Happy Christmastide, nonetheless!
Yeah, but for right now, I'm still on holiday.
so true, is it not the spirit all around of joy and giving, so brief??? just like that, a split second, it is over. Happy New Year to you and your family! :)
Goodwill should definitely go on throughout the year, but too much nostalgia would be ... well ... too much. Happy lead-up to the New Year.
I would happily allow santa to bring me all those pressies every day...just got to work on being a good enough girl :0)
That's why Christmas is a miracle, don't you think ? ;)
Wow it is still cheery and busy at your place, even at Christmas when it is lonely and quiet elsewhere.
It is a testimony to your talent and good person Brian.
Great poem, relief and sadness together.
You are right Brian. You are so right.
So true........so true!! It is almost like it never happened!
Happy New Year to you
Hugs
SueAnn
I always find a bit of relief when Christmas and celebrations end. Things are usually anticlimactic and never what you think they will be. How's that for depressing and bitter sounding? Ha! thanks for stopping by the claw btw. Anyone w/two sons is a friend of mind. but then I'm partial. and long-winded.
I am one that is happy to have it over and getting things back to normal around here but that doesn't mean putting away goodwill and caring towards "man' by any means. That needs to be shared every day of the year. Good post.
Choices...... I will start my take down as soon as the snow lets up. It is a good excuse to procrastinate and eat another cookie, have another cup of tea by the Christmas tree.....
i totally felt a twinge of sadness as i started to shut down Christmas here at the Fabulous residence. :(
I have tried waiting to put up the tree so the feeling stays a little longer after Christmas...but some how it seems that it is always a relief to get the house back to normal.
I think there is too much expectation, too much excitement, too much so that it cannot be sustained...maybe we just need to do little things everyday so that the spririt lives on and not burns itself out?
One year I kept the Christmas tree up till the middle of Feb. and it was quite wonderful!
I love how people treat others with kindness at Christmas but find it very sad how they so often forget to be kind once Christmas is over!
I really liked this poem, Brian.
Oh, I'm missing hubby terribly but talk to him every night.
Still have over a week to go...*sigh*
Thank you for asking!
Margie :)
Loved your poem....I think across the globe me too observe the same things...
Christmas, stripped of its festivities should not leave behind a vacuum...
If you don't mind have a glance over my thoughts about Christmas
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