Special Feature Collaborative Poem--By Jack Horne--England and Constance LaFrance--Canada

Christmas Memories

By Jack Horne and Constance LaFrance

We walked through Whitleigh, early one winter evening,
many moons ago, with the sounds of the Salvation Army Band:
a carol service near the shops and I asked if we could stop.
We joined the jolly carolers and sang Star of Wonder,
the lyrics on a large screen, for those who didn't know them.
A dreary December night, but I recall feeling wonderfully warm:
it seemed to start inside and spread, filling my heart with happiness,
as I held my parents' hands, we only sang that one song,
for we were going to gran's, but I still smile at my memories
of a child's first carol service .... and wonder who else remembers.

The snow is falling outside my window, pretty delicate snowflakes,
It is another Christmas Eve, and I want to decorate the tree,
I got the tattered box from the basement that holds the decorations.
Within are all the memories of Christmas pasts,
And in my mind, I can still see all the happiness of yesterdays;
I see my sweet mother cooking and fussing about the house,
And I am helping father with the Christmas tree,
And gran is supervising from her rocking chair.
I touch each old decoration like the finest of lace and weep,
Weep for the three angels ... that dwell above.