The reason for the season
You may never know
If all you see is a dazzling tree
The Christmas tree with its jagged thorny leaves says,
True glamour has underneath some pain.
You see the toppers
You see the light
You see the candy-caned crook that
says he is our shepherd.
The bell for happiness,
The wreath for love
All herald the message of Christ’s mass day.
The family who sits around a table
Gobbling up the chicken, turkey or beef
Giggling and laughing and merry with wine
Have had their pains all through the year
The mother who longs to have back her son
The prodigal daughter whose innocence is lost
The gangster brother who hopes to find peace
All sit around the table to find peace
They talk, they fight, they reconcile
And look to the star to find their way
The shepherds, the magi and even Herod too
All make up that beautiful Christmas tale
So Christmas is about family too,
A time to make up and set rifts aside,
And not the raucous of a vanity fair.
You see the clothes, the jewellery and the gold
And the pulchritudinous embellishment.
You hear the chant to deck the halls and be jolly,
And not of myrrh, with its bitter perfume.
You wished you had something new to wear
But the manger, the crib and his parents too
Wore clothes not of finest yarn.
His bed of straw
The donkeys, the pigs,
Their hee-haws and their oinks still made Jesus smile.
It wasn’t about their looks after all.
His best of friends were the poorest of all
The shepherds with their empty-handed homage
Were still guests at the Yuletide banquet.
The magi in their glamour and splendour
So rich but with a lowly spirit
Tell of true giving with hopes for no return
The partying, the noise and the fireworks too,
Tell half the truth of his Christmas birth
Emmanuel, a King, God with us,
Came only with a noiseless band
The ones who first heard of his birth had no subwoofers
But while watching their flocks on a serene night,
The angels’ song,
Was the best they ever heard
Who speaks of Christmas without Santa Claus
The ho-ho’s, the socks and the sleigh bells too
But these, he did not know and yet,
Christmas didn’t mean less of a Christmas to him
During his Christmas,
there was bad news too.
Innocent boys shed blood for a fight they know not of.
Their mothers’ tears and their fathers’ pleas,
All tell a tale of no pain, no gain.
So what’s your reason for the season?
To kill, to steal, to maim or defame?
To suppress, to oppress or make others feel depressed
Who exactly do you wish to impress,
The humble host or his gorgeous guests?
And while you wish a soul a Happy New Year,
Think again of the reason for the season.
