It's Christmas and the festive lights shine out:
A twinkling call to poor and wretched souls
Who shamble in to see what it's about:
The laughing Santa Claus, the glowing coals,
The rosy cheekéd boys, the girls who sing,
The bustling grandmas offering treats to tykes.
What is this strange and glorious, joyful thing?
This loving warmth that heals our aches with lights?
The gift of Christ, given once, in the age long past
Has left its mark today in Christian hearts.
The holy love of God in ways that last
Is shown through loving gifts from heart to heart.
In the memory of God's great gift of grace:
A yearly time of giving for the race.
For my mother,
Christmas, 1991