I’m linking this rather strange poem below (no idea where it came from or where it’s going, it’s just a first stab) to dVerse Poets Pub, where we are allowing ourselves to be inspired by Canadian poet David McFadden and write about our daily lives with a sense of wonder.
The light flickers and sickens
knives are now sharpened, forced back in the block
a sauce bubbles over in the pan
and bleeds to the floor
a ping of alarm
in the heat of the moment
and years of watermarks to adorn
wipe off the granite in spiraling sweep.
No turning back. The filth from the mouth
sputters out and deep.
Where the tinsel meets chestnut and cinnamon scents
they sit cocooned in ghostly warmth of Christmas past.
The fireplace crackling and stockings a-bulge
frenzied little voices
preparing carrots and mince pies to leave on the platter.
In the waver of unwatched candlelight
the train chugs round
with Christmas cheer
and then, just as the music turns high-pitched,
she alights
shaking the snow off her wings in a strop
oranges tumble from her sack patched with velveteen
walnuts clutter as she lays out each present
checks her list and counts again.
Of course Santa will get the credit.
In this our fairytale no one lives happily
ever after
but the gifts remain.
Christmas can be like that….
It started out as the description of a room and then it morphed into something seasonal… poems always surprise you.
This is fantastic… for me it really tells the complexity of Christmas, the traditions both cocoon and prison. Not bittersweet but both bitter and sweet (which to me is not the same thing). I get the image of Christmas in Fanny and Alexander. So many details I like… unwatched candelight… and the ever after where only gifts remain…
I also see the toys in “The steadfast tin soldier”… Maybe there is just me, but to me there is something very Nordic in your way to describe Christmas… Thank you for this.
Such a powerful poem… I loved the choice of words you used to depict the emotions we feel around holiday seasons.. a mixture of melancholy and joy 🙂
Lots of love,
Sanaa
I am not in the Christmas spirit yet but the details of your poem with the scents, food & music put me into that setting ~ Of course Santa gets all the credit, but I wonder if indeed there are other magical beings that are at work, smiles ~ I like the ending, the gifts remain ~ Thanks Marina for the Christmas drama ~
What a mix of feelings. fun
Sometimes in the imperfect present it seems we look back on the idyllic past where indeed Santa seems to get all of the credit! I can hear that fireplace crackling & the gifts that stay forever under a perfect Christmas tree! I liked this poem, Marina Sofia. It is filled with so many contrasts…as Christmas always is!
What a powerful way to express the difference between Christmas dreams (or perhaps memories?) and the reality of Christmas for too many people. This really has an impact, Marina Sofia!
I love the way a poem sometimes takes command of the poet and goes its own way. Bravo for giving it its head.
Santa’s helpers…wish they bring you lovely presents !!
The oranges and nuts especially took me back to earlier Christmases where gifts were simple, inexpensive, and dearly cherished. There was wonder, back then.
In this our fairytale no one lives happily
ever after
but the gifts remain…. so true – we idealize Christmas and have such high expectations we can’t help but be disappointed. But, we’re ready to do it again next year
SMiLes..
greaTest
story ever
told is no
story at
all..
it is
sImply
Love and as
Long as REAL
Humans live..
a true
fairy
tale that
never ends
in Love of
eyeS of True
that live on as
Now connecting
Human Love.. SO
SURE.. gift of eYes..
when Love lives as
spARKLe LiGHt..
story of
a
Grinch
who sees
further than
material gifts..
Oh.. Christmas
TreeS
of
Life..:)
Sometimes Christmas can highlight the pain as well as the joy. This reminds me of a song by The Blue Nile called Family Life which is beautiful but raw. Like this poem.
Hmmmm…bit of a melancholy holiday, I think. We keep reaching for happiness.
A dark tale, infused with candlelight, incense, cooking smells, tradition and a toy train chugging in a circle around the tree. Perhaps the holiday sprite, the yuletide faery can be cast as the many-faceted spirit of Christmas, where we combine Nordic, Germanic & biblical lore into a pastiche of re-rendered sentiments & Madison Avenue hooey.
I’m really liking this Marina – so many of those lines are powerful in their own right!
There’s a feel of Christmas exhaustion about this poem. A pity that many people feel this.
This…encapsulates so many of my own feelings about this time of year, both happy and bittersweet. Thank you 🙂
Oh, I just posted the same kind of poem that sprang from God-know-where. It amazes me how we so often try to recreate a special feeling associated with a holiday or something and it just isn’t going to happen. A reason, I suppose for just enjoying each day as it unfolds. I love the things that happen unexpectedly when writing a poem like this.