I love Garrison Keillor and his daily Writer's Almanac, and today, this extra poem was in my mailbox. For me this year, Christmas is a bit difficult and, to speak honestly, not a completely joyful time, but this poem captures so much of what I've been feeling as I work to make the holiday meaningful for my young children.
Christmas
A little girl is singing for the faithful to come ye
Joyful and triumphant, a song she loves,
And also the partridge in a pear tree
And the golden rings and the turtle doves.
In the dark streets, red lights and green and blue
Where the faithful live, some joyful, some troubled,
Enduring the cold and also the flu,
Taking the garbage out and keeping the sidewalk shoveled.
Not much triumph going on here--and yet
There is much we do not understand.
And my hopes and fears are met
In this small singer holding onto my hand.
Onward we go, faithfully, into the dark
And are there angels hovering overhead? Hark.
--Garrison Keillor
