Christmas!

Christmas! Now it's only once a year - thankfully! Here's a few thoughts!

First two got published

The world and his wife

For two days of their lives

Sat in traffic jams-

Must buy some ham.

In case we need it over Christmas.

In the red on my visa card,

Next year will be hard.

Up to my eyes

In extra mince pies,

In case we need them over Christmas.

Fill the freezer with bread,

Shake the screws loose from my head,

Put a brolley

In the trolley

In case it rains over Christmas.

Veg frozen and fresh;

Buy a new party dress.

Another joint of meat-

An extra dessert sweet-

In case we feel the need over Christmas.

Push and shove;

Fuck off love!

(I saw that bargain first!

My demons are at their worst

Over Christmas time)

Christmas cake

Pudding to bake,

Turkey, stuffing all the trimmings-

By next year I'll be slimming

For the two days over Christmas.

Over indulgence, far too rich,

Extra pounds, ain't life a bitch?

And where we are there ain't no snow

Just rain and drizzle, what a blow

For the whole of Christmas time.

The queues' so long

It's taken an eon,

The bill at the end

Will take a year to mend.

Well, up until nest Christmas.

Copyright Linda Lawrence

23rd December 2002

A Christmas thought

It's Christmas again once more we moan

But spare a thought for those with no home.

While we sit around a dressed Christmas tree,

Open our gifts and eat our tea,

Relax get together and watch T.V.

What of the homeless out on the street

Cold and alone we're unlikely to meet.

A new cardboard box-their Christmas gift;

Window shop around Harrods, and then they will drift.

They'll relish our leftover bin liner bags,

Their treasure; our rubbish; their new clothes; our rags.

Be without friends' family or loved ones,

Will we think of those while we're having fun?

While we enjoy the Christmastime hype,

An old man, a vagrant smokes dirt from his pipe.

As we sing carols or keep warm inside,

Think of those people who live outside.

Copyright Linda Lawrence

December 1995

Autumn skies (ode to my Dad)

Autumn skies, grey with rain

Winters' nearly here again,

Lush with colour, brown, yellow and red

Want to stay all day in bed.

Freezing fingers all turned blue

Gardens' turned a different hue.

Car door stuck, frozen with ice

Warm up dinner, hot curry and rice.

Summers' over, the clocks go back

The dusky evenings' sunlight lacks.

Mystic, magic, dark Halloween,

Guy Fawkes memory can now be seen.

Shops stock up with Christmas galore

That yuletide feeling that fills each store.

A reminder of a year flown by,

A year nearer to the grave I cry.

My meaning of Christmas becomes so raw,

A tainted smile for the man I yearn for

A loving father whom I still adore

As I learn to face the memory once more.

This time again I'll never forget-

Always find it hard to accept.

Copyright Linda Lawrence

September 2003