Empty chairs and vacant halls
Lonely streets and quiet malls
Christmas is here, the façade's the same
But oh everything seems so changed
Absence and echoes where there were none before
Missing footprints on the snow fall
A screen on a phone for a smile to our face
A meal alone instead of a gathering place
Oh where's the Christmas heart and cheer?
Where’s the spirit that rejoices the year?
Where's the laughter? The joy? The fun?
Where's the promise? Where's the Son?
Sometimes it feels to ask in vain
In the silent tomb of pain
Sometimes it feels like empty space
Is all the fills this gathering place
Yet as the lone meal is set
I hear a voice saying, “Don’t forget!”
And somehow it seems to me
This place isn’t quite so empty
For a promise has filled the void
A remembrance I can’t avoid
Of times now past, of times to be
That our now is not eternity
And at the table, across time and space
I see into that eternal place
Where all are gathered together as one
To celebrate the birth of the Son
I see them there, our family
Unbroken by sorrow or misery
Cheers and laughter with glasses raised
The air singing with songs of praise
A promise, a remembrance, as the vision fades
And before me the lone meal is laid
For though this moment we must be strong
It’s to that hope that we belong
So as I sit alone, I’ll pray
And say thanks for this Christmas day
For that promise to which I hold on
And Thank God for my savior was born
Merry Christmas, Everyone. Still.
Copyright © 2020 by Kwek Yi Zhen