Merry Christmas To Those Who Have Departed Poem by Jim Yerman

We all have Christmas traditions that no matter how we change and grow…
harken back and remind us of Christmases long ago.

A certain ornament, a song, an aroma that can elicit a smile, a laugh…a tear
as we remember a time, a place, a moment…with someone we hold dear.

I love to take time out during the holidays…when everything's moving so fast
A quiet moment in an empty house…to visit those echoes of the past.

When I close my eyes and listen in the silence and solitude I find…
I can see and hear those echoes of the memories left behind.

A lavishness of memories in which I'm free to linger, run…or stroll.
A cornucopia of memories over which time no longer has control.

I'm like a child in a candy store once those memories have started…
I visit last year, many years ago, family and friends still here…
and those who have departed.

You might think I'd be sad…that sorrow would overtake my mind…
when I'm visited by a memory…someone departed left behind.

But I'm not! Because from the moment I see or hear them…
the moment their memory arrives…
it's as if they never left…as if they're still alive!

And for that moment we're together…celebrating the place, the time…the day
before circumstances…fate…or destiny…took them all away.

Yes, these moments in my empty house
fill me with much more laughter than sorrow and tears…
for although I'm sad they have departed…I'm so happy they were here.

Visiting these memories always leave me smiling…
feeling a little wistful…and tenderhearted….
but happy I've had a moment to wish a Merry Christmas…
to those who have departed.