It is now a celebrated fact
Christ has been exorcised from Christmas,
that unspectacular manger scene, with
angels, voided from city shop displays.
Worldly extravagance and expenditure
make the case with triumphant ease,
designer styles a world worth living in,
glitter and sparkle magnify the sales.
And there is good will in abundance,
people of all nationalities and persuasions
mingle, as if bound by a common faith
in non-ecclesiastical accomplishment.
Yet, this Christmas it is different:
as though the achievement of self-reliance
like the space view of our blue planet
confines us, where the manger scene had lifted.
