Christmas is near and I don't understand
How Santa can find us in such a cold land
But Mom has insisted he’ll be here, drop by…
But it just won’t be under an African sky.
I know that it’s different and won’t be the same
Granny with chocolates, forgetting my name…
And gramps with his paper and yellow sun hat,
Flipping the burgers and having a chat.
That family cheer that we all hold so dear
I worry that Christmas won’t be like last year –
When the room was exploding with laughter and light,
Out playing hopscotch and flying my kite.
Mom hugged me and said that it’s different she knows,
Shifts nearer the fire to warm up her toes,
Dad comes through the door, coughing and sneezing –
His coat, gloves and scarf protect him from freezing!
I look out the window and take a deep sigh
Wishing for wings to take off and fly
Off to that land that I love, that is warm,
Away from the ice and a howling snow storm.
I woke up and stretched to a white Christmas Eve,
In the air stirred a magic I hoped to believe.
Snow draped on rooftops and cloaked all the ground
Gracefully falling not making a sound.
An elf full of mischief moved in overnight –
Cheeky and charming who pranks out of sight.
Our snowman seemed happy, an iced up shy guy
And smiled when I gave him a warmed up mince pie!
We strolled through the markets with candles aglow
Roasted nuts in log cabins, mulled wine we sipped slow.
Lingering cloves, and sweet ginger spice –
Put on our ice skates and drifted on ice.
In a grotto sat Santa with gifts on display,
Reindeer nudged close to him guarding the sleigh.
The bells rang out loudly, ding-donging, ding-dong,
Watching a panto and playing along.
Sprinkled the magic dust and reindeer food –
Cookies and milk to improve Santa’s mood.
My stocking hung down from the post of my bed –
I'm yawning and weary, must lay down my head.
Awake Christmas morning, the first thing I see
My stocking piled high with presents for me,
I race with them, bounce onto mom and dad’s bed –
Rip open wrapping of silver and red.
We huddled up grateful alongside our tree
Breathing in pine, sipping cinnamon tea.
Candy canes hanging from branches spread far,
Shimmering tinsel and silvery star.
We didn’t go camping, go swimming outside,
No swinging on swings or roll down the slide.
No smoke from a fire that once cooked our meat
With granny and gramps in the African heat.
Christmas has changed and won’t be the same,
Missing our family is always a shame.
We still play fun games, marshmallows toasted –
Mistletoe kisses and turkey is roasted.
We wear our pyjamas all day and all night,
Look to the sky for the star burning bright
Where the magic and meaning of Christmas still stands
His love is surrounding us crossing the lands.
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