Everybody’s Christmas Invites a Visit from Marley’s Ghost/Judith Ayn Bernhard

Everybody’s Christmas Invites

a Visit from Marley’s Ghost

In winter’s darkness we huddle

under heavy bedclothes and

waking to the hour that is not

yet morning

We remember Christmas Past

How the intersection of childish

greed and unmet expectations

always led to broken toys and

strained relations

And turning on the lamps by

our beds and shaking the old

visions from our heads

we make a list

For a better Christmas Present

But our catalog of luxury gifts

and sumptuous celebrations

leans heavily on the Santa Claus

of our imaginations

And we come to the conclusion

that our fantasy beneficence

is merely an illusion and

so we begin

To dream of Christmas Future

When Peace on Earth is manifest

and kindness replaces avarice

and the cold air is filled with love

And humbug is a word

we’ve never heard