Bon Natalle

Bon Natalle

Green trees, gray squalor,
Sidewalks slopping with trash,
paper and boxes,
and castaway clothing,
food that is only half eaten;

The forgotten, ignored,
irritating, weary,
uncomfortable to be around
unkempt and disheveled,
those only a Savior could love.

The two worlds of Christmas,
one self-absorbed
narcissistic,
happy and ho-ho-ho,

The grey side,
shunted,
abandoned embarrassing relatives and acquaintances,
repressed requirements, obliterated obligations,
intentionally omitted
to meet the desire
of the season,

The true meaning is love,
not gifts or shopping,
but helping and lending a hand;
not drinking and eating,
but caring and seeking
to emulate Christ.

Help the hoping,
Love the listing,
magnanimous altruism
Is John 3:16.

by Douglas Noel