“Old Friends at Christmas”

We’re long past racing downstairs

Christmas mornings breathless

for surprises under evergreen branches,

and our stockings now are the support kind

to hold things together south of our knees.

Taylor Swift may sing “White Christmas”

instead of Bing, and Amazon.com

may replace Woolworth’s on Black Fridays,

but we’ve moved on to richer gifts

of spouses and children, our own homes

glowing in holiday lights of December.

And over the now many miles of age

we still hold close the love of friends,

those we meet for coffee and conversation,

who check in with texts and morning emails,

those with whom our hearts have a history,

who make every day of every season

the most wonderful time of the year.

 

Edwin Romond