Hello, dear friends and loyal readers. Happy holidays to you all.
Somewhere back in October, I came to the anxiety provoking realization that Christmas was quickly approaching and that I had yet to come up with another poem for our annual holiday card. I’ve been doing these little ditties for many years… it’s kinda expected… but I gotta tell you, each year it gets more and more difficult. I guess I’ve dealt with X Mas in every way possible… my poems have been, at various times: dark, irreverent, warm and fuzzy, facetious and sincere. Yes, I’ve done things to Santa that shouldn’t happen to a dog. (It’s a good thing that the Old Man can take a joke.)
It’s difficult for me to come up with my poems “on demand”. When I force them, they usually come out stiff, uninteresting and quite often, a bit stupid.
Eventually I managed to compel myself to sit down at the computer, hoping that when needed, inspiration would arrive. Alas… nothing came. Arggh and ouch! Blank brain, blank page.
As the days wore on, I started… stopped, started…stopped with frustrating regularity. Nothing. The expression, “Garbage in, garbage out” surely applied to what I was composing. One day, however, the inspiration bug bit my nimble fingers and I managed to crank out a rough copy of what I thought might be a good candidate for our card. Unpolished, I submitted this fledgling writing to my editor and most trusted critic (the Lady Lex). I was hopeful… surely I had the beginnings of something fabulous. My dear wife read the poem and paused. (She knew how hard I had worked and how much I wanted her to like it.) Looking up into my hopeful and expectant eyes, she said, “Nah.”
Failure… it’s a bitter fruit to swallow.
To make what is already too long a story a bit shorter, I will cut to the quick. The result of my labors finally resulted in four possible candidates for publication. I presented these plums to Queen Lex and she, like some reincarnated Roman empress, gave them each a read, followed quickly by a thumbs down or thumbs up.
In the end, a poem was chosen and will be inserted in this year’s holiday card. (It will be featured here in my report on the 24th of this month.) Because my other three “rejects” were (I thought) pretty good I have decided to also publish them on the Fridays of this month. (December 6th, 13th, 20th) I present to you now, the first of my three poetic also-rans. Your Buddy, Your Pal, Stash
Christmas Magic
If you’re looking for Christmas’ magic,
Look into a toddler’s eyes…
They’re void of a grown-up’s cynicism…
Full of innocence and surprise.
In a world of troubles…
One of avarice and what money buys…
You can still find genuine delight
In a toddler’s unspoiled eyes.
Children learn to be greedy…
But when little, they are free.
Interested not so much in presents…
They focus on the tinsel and the tree.
Stash