Finding our Christmas Light

The days have passed in a blur

And now it’s Christmas night

How strange it feels, so serene

It’s an oddly peaceful night

The days between have not been pleasant

Madmen acted and lives were lost

The earth has shaken, storms raged

Peace has held but at terrible cost

The struggle to keep it Christmas

Has been brutal with spirits this low

Sometimes it seemed dancing on the edge

Ready to fall with a careless blow

So I searched again for that Christmas star

And I found it tonight

High up in the dark night sky

Oddly small and not too bright

But it was constant, ever constant

Nothing could cause it to fade

It cannot be blocked, it cannot be stopped

For eternity it had been made

And I know now that it will glow always

Hope shinning in the night

Nothing on earth nor in hell

Can ever block out that light

So although there’s no tree this year

And thus nothing festive to light

It is Christmas still

And that Child’s our eternal Christmas light

Merry Christmas

Copyright © 2016 by Kwek Yi Zhen

Originally from: http://poemsforocassions.blogspot.com/2016/12/finding-our-christmas-light.html

Fighting for Christmas Faith

Christmas has come around again this year

But I must confess I feel no cheer

Rather it feels like Annus Horribilis

In other words, a horrible year

The world I knew has departed

Everything seems to have changed

Peace now feels on the brink of danger

And really, the world just got strange

So no tree decorates our home

The lights on the street are cold and empty

It all seems so superficial

Is this Christmas really?

I look up to the stars for an answer

Seeking the one from 2000 years ago

The one that guided to a poor manger

That winter night so cold

And it shone in my mind so bright

Such a contrast to the dark of night

And led me down a quiet walk

Where with a shepherd I could talk

But he never spoke a word

Only raised his arm and I knew

That soldiers descended to Bethlehem

To a thousand children slew

It was the first Christmas night

Forgot I truly had

That hope was born in a world so dark

And in a night so black

Yet how it shone, how it shone

The skies opened and the angels sang

There was a celebration in that little manger

Despite the world so dark and dank

Our hope is a hope for the ages

And Christmas’ joy from hereafter comes

So this Christmas will be graced with a feast nevertheless

And I’ll open the door to whoever and still say ‘Welcome’

Immanuel, God is with us

Still

Merry Christmas

Copyright © 2016 by Kwek Yi Zhen

Originally from: http://poemsforocassions.blogspot.com/2016/12/fighting-for-christmas-faith.html

A fiery Christmas

It’s been quite a Christmas

In our expensive Orchard road

Things have been catching fire

It’s a wonder business has not slowed

First it was the Christmas tree

Just sitting by the side of the road

Then in a flash of flame

Its ornaments it did unload

Then it was the décor

Hanging on a street light

First it shone with electric brilliance

And then with crimson light

Third was a poor restaurant

That was somehow set ablaze

Now how did that happen?

The sprinkler I can’t praise

And now do I hear a fourth?

Hidden in a carpark, a flaming pile of rubbish

Perhaps with the wall,

They couldn’t it distinguish

Oh please no more!

This is turning into a bad comedy

Once, twice, I forgive you

But four is insanity

They must have struck everywhere in Orchard road

These mysterious ‘arsonists’

Having hit sky and ground

What else could they have missed?

Ah I see it now

I will shop elsewhere instead

Because the only place not yet aflame

Is I fear, my head!

Copyright © 2015 by Kwek Yi Zhen

Originally from: http://poemsforocassions.blogspot.com/2015/12/a-fiery-christmas.html