34 Years of Christmas Poems: Christmas 2005

After all of the man-made focus in the previous year's poem, I wanted to do something that was more aligned with winter. An excellent snow storm provided a perfect opportunity to think about the nature of these delicate ice crystals and how their relationship to each other can strike a note for both the differences and similarities in humankind.

A trip to the National Christmas Center in Paradise, PA (http://www.nationalchristmascenter.com/) gave me an amazing variety of seasonal displays, items and themes to gather and toss into the mix. It was fun to frame out the thoughts and let the verse take form, almost as much fun as finding an aluminum tree and color wheel to include in the video!

Yes, sometimes I am that easily amused. I hope that I can always feel that way; it makes life so much fun!

Christmas 2005

by

Richard Perrotti

A gentle snow was falling, enrobing the world in white;

Gliding on the breeze, weather-wise.

I stood watching in wonder and realized there must be

A million, million snowflakes dancing before my eyes.

Each delicate crystal different, yet essentially the same

In countless numbers, floating throughout time.

Each one’s an individual, ensnared by a single word;

Simply “snow,” subject of story, legend, myth and rhyme.

While watching this winter wonder, it soon became quite clear

That the story of these flakes was too, my own.

For I’m one of many people; assorted, grouped and free

And I’ve seen a million Christmases in my lifetime alone.

“Hold on!” you may be thinking as memories swiftly engage,

“Life’s much too short for that thought to be so.”

It seems that way upon first glance, so deeper in we’ll gaze

And then, my friend, the veil will lift and you will start to know.

Think about all the elements of which Christmas is comprised;

People, places, items but a few.

Then think of how they shuffle and rearrange themselves through time.

Now consider all the changes that you, your self’s, been through.

Folks departing or arriving, for a time or ever more;

Their lives, their loves like legends all displayed.

With laughter and tears remembered as holiday time comes ‘round,

Celebrated, maintained and passed forward (which is how traditions get made.)

Customs adopted or adapted from the world in which we live,

(Some simply fabricated now and then.)

I’m sure there was no “Chrismukkah” or “Kwanzaa” when I arrived.

But add (or subtract) just one thing and it starts all over again.

We’ve scarcely scratched the surface on our “millionth” Christmas trip,

A kaleidoscopic “whirl-dly” sort of game.

Remember, despite all changes, to keep love and joy alive

And I promise you that Christmas will never quite be “the same.”

December 2005 events:
2nd - Van Tuong Nguyen is executed in Singapore for drug trafficking.
3rd - XCOR Aerospace makes first manned rocket aircraft delivery of US Mail in Mojave, California.
4th - Tens of thousands of people in Hong Kong protest for democracy and call on the Government to allow universal and equal suffrage.
5th - The Lake Tanganyika earthquake causes significant damage, mostly in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
5th - The Civil Partnership Act comes into effect in the United Kingdom, and the first civil partnership is registered there.
6th - Several villagers are shot dead during protests in Dongzhou, China.
7th - Rigoberto Alpizar, a passenger on American Airlines Flight 924 who allegedly claimed to have a bomb, is shot and killed by a team of US federal air marshals at Miami International Airport.
8th - Ante Gotovina, Croatian army general accused of war crimes, is captured in the Playa de las Américas, Tenerife by the Spanish police.
11th - The Buncefield Oil Depot in Hemel Hempstead is rocked by explosions, causing a huge oil fire.
11th - Cronulla riots: Thousands of White Australians demonstrate against ethnic violence resulting in a riot against anyone thought to be Lebanese (and many who were not) in Cronulla Sydney. These are followed up by ethnic attacks on Cronulla.
15th - Latvia amends its constitution to eliminate possibility of same-sex couples being entitled to marry.
15th - Argentina's president Néstor Kirchner announces the early repayment of its external debt to the IMF.
15th - Introduction of the F-22 Raptor into USAF active service.
15th - The 2005 Atlantic Power Outage began.
17th - Anti-WTO protesters riot in Wan Chai, Hong Kong
20th - US District Court Judge John E. Jones III rules against mandating the teaching of "intelligent design" in his ruling of Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District.
20th - The first same sex civil partnerships in Scotland are celebrated.
20th - 2005 New York City transit strike: New York City's Transport Workers Union Local 100 goes on strike, shutting down all New York City Subway and Bus services.
23rd - Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 217 from Baku, Azerbaijan, to Aktau, Kazakhstan crashes shortly after takeoff killing 23 people.
23rd - Chad declares a state of war against Sudan following a December 18 attack on Adré, which left about 100 people dead.
26th - Boxing Day shooting on a busy shopping street in Toronto.
28th - A U.S. immigration judge orders John Demjanjuk deported to Ukraine for crimes against humanity committed during World War II.
30th - Tropical Storm Zeta forms in the open Atlantic Ocean, tying the record for the latest tropical cyclone ever to form in the North Atlantic basin.