Trying to decide what type of holiday-ish message to write for my column this week, I decided to look for inspiration in writings we have printed through the years. Doing so, I glanced through my current laptop and a rarely used desktop where I store old documents that I can’t bear to part with. While searching, I ran across a Christmas poem I had written back in 2008. I was happy to find something festive to share with our readers this week, even if it is recycled from seven years ago. Here it is:
Holiday rhymes with a reason
The season came around this year
So quickly, I declare
With pockets void of cash and coin
Our cupboards seem so bare.
But shop we must to show we care
To loved ones on our lists
“They should have the best,” we say
With Visa cards in our fists.
We’ve struggled long and hard this month
To find the gifts we’ve bought
With promises of bills paid off
But hey— our credit’s shot.
Next year, we’re told, will better be.
Look forward to the day
When fortune shines on all the land.
Better times are on the way.
To reassure ourselves ’tis true
We could, we should, we must
Read on those dollars we hold dear.
It says, “In God We Trust.”
—Neena Strichart, 2008
