46 Years of Christmas Poems: Christmas 2023

 

I think we've all been through challenges at times. A life without contrast is one that fails to prompt decisions that lead to growth. These challenges can come at any and every stage of one's life and at any time of the year. It gives you pause. You can ask yourself, "What now?"

That question opens the door to new possibilities, seeing things differently and the opportunity for growth. That is what I was considering as this year's poem came to me. Am I aware of what I am aware of, what I'm focusing on? Anyone who has ever driven knows that when your attention gets diverted while behind the wheel that your car will go in that direction unless you snap to and realize what's happening, resume being present in the moment.

There is always obvious and plentiful good that surrounds us. We just simply need to be aware of it and focus on the positive while understanding that in a universe of infinite variety, the opposite of that will also always exist. Make better choices for yourself and your life story will benefit. Bless everyone else for doing the best that they can with the choices that they are also free to make. I feel that is the best that can be done and it is enough.

Please have a wonderful holiday season.

Christmas 2023

By Richard Perrotti

 

Oft times you might feel uncertain,

Of what anything’s truly about.

Even when love ought to be flowing,

You still might feel clouded by doubt.

 

This perception is far from uncommon,

Throughout our whole universe.

Where anything and everything

Can be viewed as both blessing and curse.

 

The story surrounding King Herod

At the time of Jesus’ birth

Was he ordered the slaughter of innocents,

And unleashed great anguish on earth.

 

Doesn’t this ring so familiar,

As we gaze at our world torn by war?

Our focus on this fosters sadness

But within your heart there’s a cure.

 

Some celebrate the holidays grandly.

Others stage a violent coup.

Know that many of the truths we cling to

Depend greatly on our own point of view.

 

Understand, if you can, that you live in

Infinite, unlimited variety.

There’s always going to be choices,

To focus, experience and thus be.

In our world we celebrate Christmas

At the darkest time of the year.

Thus, our decorative lights shine their brightest,

Inspiring warmth and good cheer

 

Shine your light on the good that surrounds you,

On what others might fail to see.

Feel the joy that this will bring you.

It’s the most precious gift under the tree.

45 Years of Christmas Poems: Christmas 2022

 

All of us go through periods of transition in our lives. That is normal as we walk our path and author our life/story. Sometimes they can be virtually effortless while other times, quite the opposite. With everything that is occurring with me right now, I had serious doubts that I was going to catch the inspiration for this year's poem and even if I did, would I have the time to actually get it down, produce my cards etc.

When I write the first line that "this didn't come in the usual way," that is true. A few days ago, I was sitting to write a page in my journal, something that I do each morning to center myself and prepare to experience the best day possible. As I wrote the normal intro, the next words were "Well, why don't you write the poem here in your journal?" And so I did and for the first time ever, these six verses flowed through me onto the page with no effort, no editing. That had never happened before but now I can say I've experienced what true channeling feels like. I like it and I hope you do as well.

Christmas 2022

By Richard Perrotti

 

This didn’t get done in the usual way

But is any way usual anymore?

Through traditions we try to keep them alive

Comparing now against the past, keeping score

 

Perspective is a gift or a curse it seems

A lens on our own unique view

And as much as we try to remain satisfied

We’ll lock on to something askew

 

It can be minor like a star on a tree

That isn’t sitting quite right

A little adjusting, a quick step back

And all now seems well in our sight

 

But a larger step back is needed

Adjusting one’s view from the heart

Is there really a “war on Christmas”?

Where did this dark notion start?

 

We live in a world that’s grand and diverse

Teeming with all aspects of life

As you walk through your world, your present, your now,

Why choose darkness over light?

 

Hold on to what’s precious but also remember

That change is the way of the world

Focus on the best, choose love over hate

And a path of peace shall be unfurled

44 Years of Christmas Poems: Christmas 2021

One of the first events we went to in the fall in this strange new world that we inhabit was the Immersive Van Gogh exhibit at the Tower Theater in Philadelphia, PA. Inside we toured the artist's timeline of his life and work and were struck by the precarious balance that he was navigating between his artistic pursuit of perfection and madness.

The grand finale was sitting inside the theater auditorium and being literally immersed in his art and story. The photo on the cover of the card was taken inside the space. It was almost overwhelming and touched me deeply. I had no idea that it would inspire the theme of this year's poem until I sat to write and these ideas came spewing out in verse.

I hope that you find a note of beauty and balance in your own holiday season as we continue to navigate between peace and madness. I truly believe that we all come out stronger in the end.

Peace to you and yours. All is well.

Christmas 2021

By Richard Perrotti

 

The painter positioned his canvas

As the night sky beckoned afar.

How best to depict what he’s seeing,

To capture an avenue of stars?

 

He’d attempted, he’s tried to do this before;

Not once had it turned out quite right.

This time he determined to paint it

In the very best possible light.

 

What are you seeing? His inner voice asked,

Or better yet, what do you feel?

Are you looking to dance with the infinite

Or grasping to capture what’s real?

 

“I don’t know,” he honestly answered.

“I’m really not sure what I see.

It appears as such for an instant

Then shifts like a turbulent sea.”

 

Know this, his muse did advise him,

You must let yourself off the hook

You’re trying to capture perfection

As if following rules in a book

  

You act like your life is a lesson

That you ought to have taken to heart.

But creation has always been messy

And regret has no place in your art

 

Love simply lights one more candle

While anger keeps cursing the dark.

Let love’s light illumine your painting

And you’ll find that you’ve left quite the mark.

 

We paint on a canvas called Christmas

And struggle to get it just right.

Be still and hear what’s within you.

See it in the best possible light.

 

For love is truly the present

And the present is always here/now.

It’s the gift that always keeps giving

For as long as we accept and allow.

 

43 Years of Christmas Poems: Christmas 2020

 

The note on the back of this year's card reads as such: "What really can be said about a year such as this? It will be as you see it and grow into legend with each retelling and remembrance. Legends tend to have staying power and a long reach. Make it a good one!

Peace and prosperity, Rich"

After losing the first three weeks of December to the virus, I was astonished at what I had lost as far as mental acuity. I truly didn't know if the spark to do a poem this year would return. But my truth is that I always bounce back and I held dear to that and let doubt slip away. It may be a minor victory among all of the personal battles so many are waging but I could feel good about it and that's what turned out to be the most important thing. That became my pearl of wisdom and inspired this year's (albeit late) Christmas poem. My hope is that you find your own inspiration somewhere along your journey.

Christmas 2020

By Richard Perrotti

 

“Time is the great stealer,” he told me

It will rob you of all you hold dearly.”

But time is also the great healer, I replied,

Offering the chance to see things more clearly.

 

“Look at the star blazing brightly above us.

Magnificent! And not really a star.”

Exactly, I said, just two planets aligning

And our unique point of view from afar.

 

“You’re deluding yourself,” he muttered

The world’s filled with sorrow and pain.

Look around at everything missing

That can never be cherished again.”

 

Consider this, I requested

Every thought requires a host

To give it life and to spread it

‘Else it withers and dies like a ghost.

 

Everything that’s ever been in this world

Remains in some altered form.

For what is a pearl in an oyster

But a grain of sand reborn?

 

A child will grow and stretch towards the sky

While feeling some pain from that growth.

Yet he’ll exalt at his world expanding.

It’s not one or the other. It’s both.

 

“But darkness seems to surround us,” he said.

I’m exhausted from this terrible fight.”

Then release the struggle. Surrender, I said

And you’ll find that you turn towards the light.

 

With that the darkness just lifted

And the feeling of light flooded down.

If you focus on something that’s missing,

You will never see what’s been found.

 

42 Years of Christmas Poems: Christmas 2019

Here is the handwritten note that I included in my cards this year. It says it all in terms of how long and exhausting it was to express the sentiment in the way that I wanted. It's dated 12/22/19, the day that I finally completed the poem.

"I just wanted to share a short note with you about this year's poem, one of them that took a long time to wrote. This is the 42nd version of an idea that started in my mother's kitchen back in 1978. Some years they have flowed easily from my pen. This was not one of those years. Like the poem explains, you can focus on the good and soar or focus on the fall and despair. For too long, I was feeling what the fall was all about... until I didn't. There is good all around. Find it and it will 'open your wings again.'

With love,
Rich"

Certainly not the best worded note but it expressed the process all too well. I wish you and yours peace and happiness in 2020 and the very merriest of Christmases.

41 Years of Christmas Poems: Christmas 2018

Some years, the process takes longer than others. 2018 was such a year.

Having shifted into a world of active training on technology and sales, December was a non-stop hotbed of activity. Even though I knew exactly what I wanted to write about in the poem, finding the time and the energy was a real challenge. I'm sure no one can appreciate what I'm talking about, right? ;-)

All-nighters are getting harder as I move down the timeline of life. Finishing this in the wee-morning hours of 12/21 and finding myself mailing the bulk of the cards out at 4 a.m. on the 24th, I certainly can appreciate what parents go through with trying to get the kids to bed on Christmas Eve and then wrapping presents on little sleep only to awaken to the wonder of delighted shrieks just a scant few hours later.

With that, I send this poetic child of mine out into the world. From my heart to all of yours, Merry Christmas and best wishes for peace and prosperity in 2019.

Christmas 2018

By Richard Perrotti

Christmas engages our senses

With wonderful sights and sounds.

Scents that delight and entice us

To taste (and pack on the pounds!)

An overlooked aspect of the season

Is the tactile, the texture of real.

So consider this holiday question –

Christmas: how does it feel?

The chameleon of this wintry season

Is the snow that falls from the sky.

Delicate it floats on the breezes.

Hard and blackened on the ground by and by.

Pine needles are resinous and sticky,

Making their point when touched.

Yet on these rough limbs, we adorn them

With ornamental memories well clutched.

Those baubles can be glass or golden

Newly purchased or passed down through time.

Crafted by past generations

Preserving moments, loving and sublime.

Both smooth and crunchy is garland,

Tinsel that shines on the tree.

Brushy, teeming with color,

Draped like smiles of holiday glee.

The cookie really does crumble

As you roll it about in your hand.

Turning your five faithful fingers

‘To a colorfully crumby fairyland.

The last stop of this tactile journey

Is the texture of a real human heart.

Look deep past the muscle and sinew.

Find the place where true feelings start.

For to touch someone’s heart is a miracle.

In a flash, pain and sorrow can heal.

It’s the one place to answer the question;

Christmas: how does it feel?

40 Years of Christmas Poems: Christmas 2017

In a year where unimaginable darkness arose and lives were lost as a result, I noted that an ancient form of activity has taken center stage in a modern form; scapegoating has returned with a social media vengeance. Pointed fingers and angry voices calling out the "others" as the most serious threat to our very way of living has taken hold across the country.

These others are simply people who are trying to improve their lot in life much the same as scores of immigrants have before. Coming from other lands, legally and illegally, they want what every person yearns for: freedom and a chance to build something for themselves and their families. Some have succeeded, many have been taken obscene advantage of. This is the unfortunate result of the use and misuse of power and it has been this way virtually forever. That will not be changing anytime soon.

Though now not a religious person, I was raised in a Catholic family and attended Catholic grammar and high school. I've been well educated in the Bible and the Western civilization and know the legends and stories well. It doesn't take an advanced education in divinity to know the Great Commandments that are common to virtually all of the world's great religions. Sadly, they seem to be quite out of vogue in today's modern world.

It makes me wonder what would happen if we were able to hit the "reset" button on Christianity and how the events of the original Christmas story would play out in 2017. I don't think it would be quite be the same. Consider this today when choosing whether or not to "cast the first stone", whatever form that stone may take.

 Christmas 2017

By Richard Perrotti

It is written “Do unto others

As you would have them do unto you.”

This serves as a constant for mankind

A Rule we can all live up to.

But one can also live down this rule,

Offering hatred, prejudice and shame;

Pointing fingers and cursing the “others”

In a cascade of vitriol and blame.

These “others” have always been with us,

Playing a critical role.

They afford us another opportunity

To align with (or away) from one’s soul.

“There will always be some in this land who are poor,”

Of this we cannot be naïve.

For how else would you then practice

“It is more blessed to give than to receive”?

“The godly care about the rights of the poor,

The wicked do not care at all.”

The “others” are there to remind us

Of what will result from this call.

Picture an impoverished young couple,

Worn down to the bone and skin.

Where would we have them turn to

When there’s no room for them in the inn?

Now imagine a poor unwed mother,

Pregnant by an impossible plan;

Eventually accepted by her husband-to-be

Was how the first Christmas story began.

In a feeding trough called a manger,

A newborn male child was laid.

Surrounded by shepherds, cattle and kings,

To the Light of the World they prayed.

How would we judge such a story today?

Would we open our hearts to these brothers?

Or denigrate them as heathens and strange

Casting them out as the “others”?

This is known as the season of giving,

Words we adorn on a shelf.

Here’s the true spirit of Christmas;

“Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.”