|
The year ends with vigils and thefts
Each of us wanting to know
If we have enough to spend
The river is cold
And frogs dig deeper
In clusters for comfort
Old men and children
Are sleeping through the cold night
To be ready for Christmas and New Year
The season brings
Both the manger and the malice of men
That unites and separates the world
It brings the lack,
The deficiencies, anomalies,
That we must overcome
We need to feel deeper sympathy
For the poor and the dispossessed
Lest we may be branded as stooges
Dickens had done more harm
Than you can imagine to the English gentry
And the enlightened world at large
We have to show gratitude,
And magnanimity,
Even when we don’t want to
The Christmassy thing
Of warmly recognizing our neighbors
Has become a value now
On a cold night like this
Even the stone frogs huddle together
To feel warm. |
