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A Poem of Christmas Grief
Dec 12, 2002
A Poem of Christmas Grief
Twas less than 2 weeks before Christmas,
A family made plans for the day.
Three generations: parents of eighty,
children in forties, grandchildren ranging
from 2 up to 24 years
The time was set, the house was chosen,
all selected their gifts and food.
Four sons, their wives, 10 children in all,
wrapped, tagged, ribboned, and cooked,
to share their Christmas cheer
One daughter in a sad and lonely home,
shattered, made no plans.
This family of six was missing two:
One flown to heaven, one fled in fear.
The four left each broken inside.
No plans for them to gather and meet
with parents, uncles, brothers, cousins
aunts, nieces, nephews, in-laws.
This family made no plans to share.
This family was not invited.
This family broke the rules, you see-
allowed one child to die,
allowed the father to run away,
dared to survive on their own,
dared to exist as four.
The rest of the clan - 20 in all -
said they ached for the child who was lost,
they ached for the pain of the four alone,
but actually preferred to forget,
to assume that the four were fine.
So the four planned a lonely Christmas,
bought presents with love and joy.
But in spite of the strength of their love,
They'll mourn alone for the one above
and the one too frightened to stay.
They'll think of the 20 who party that day
in a house not far away.
It would have been hard to join in the fun
with leaden hearts and minds and limbs.
But they would have liked to've been asked!
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