Christmas Standing Still Poem by Mary Angela Douglas

CHRISTMAS STANDING STILL
how I wish it could be Christmas standing still
and etched in crystal
you whispered in the frozen air, perhaps.

with an evergreen sigh
you will remember this after
the angels departed

just as the shepherds did
when standing still
they paused in the music

on the hills
and sought the Glory inside
of them, still ringing.

christmas standing still
we breathed upon the glass
so free from school

and safe at home, at last
the star lingering across the street
in our vacant lot woods

we saw in our sleep
I swear that Christmas
the very same

and now as then as
it shone it shone
in Bethlehem.

and I would trade
the orange and the spice of it all
the revels in the yuletide hall

these many decades far from home,
for the starlight, alone.

mary angela douglas 16 december 2016