Thursday, December 17, 2009

Christmas Morning


There was a sidewalk troubadour, twelve-string in hand, he said
"Come hear me warm up my guitar..."

A vagabond in tattered old rainbow poncho
Was pushing a shopping cart, a cart decorated with snowman
Reindeer, garland and a sign that read

"Happy Xmas, I'm homeless, please help."
A red, white and blue striped wolf, visible only to me
Moved him down the sidewalk nipping at his heels.

A group movin' to a jazz trumpet and drum said
"He's a taco short of a combination plate!"
Their laughter rose into the sky...

The full moon floated in the sky like a white plate.
I wanted to walk into the mountains
find the place heaven split apart and fell to earth...

But the troubadour sang a Christmas song
of three ships in a harbor on Christmas day in the morning, he sang,
"And all the bells on earth did ring on Christmas day in the morning."

An angel, audible only to me, sang into my ear, "And who
Will ring the bells for the poor on Christmas day in the morning?"
The singer sang on, he was warming up, he sang for me

He sang for the bum,
Christmas morning, Monday night, December 15th.



Rayn Roberts
2003

4 comments:

Heather Conroy said...

I laughed at the taco reference as well! I haven't heard that one before. Do you mind if I use it? Your poem reminds me that Christmas is a miserable time for alot of people, especially the poor and the lonely and those estranged from their families.

Marla said...

This really touched my heart. Well done.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Thanks Marla and Heather for reading and commenting. Yes, the lonely, estranged and poor are those for whom bright lights and garlands will never be enough in winter.

Heather, of course you can use the taco reference. It was something I actually heard, so there's it's out there for public consumption, so to speak (ha ha).

The poem came right out of a direct experience with the message and surreal imagery added for dramatic effect.

Peace,
Rayn