Christmas Every Week: Clouded Christmas
Arnold Kellett’s poem assures us that the message of Christmas can overcome bad news.
Have you seen the news?
Only brute beasts, the ox and the ass,
Can know contentment at Christmas;
For humans, who think, and feel, and remember,
What sorrows now rush in upon us!
The accidents, disasters, diseases,
The constant pelter of evil
That takes no Christmas break ...
When I think of the bereaved, the maimed, the starving,
These rich delicacies stick in my throat.
But then I think of that they would wish:
'To share our grief,' they might say,
'Is to double it... Rejoice while you may:
Your turn is yet to come . . .
The very reason we weep
Is for lack of the good things you have:
Why should you waste them on our behalf?
Rather enjoy them all the more,
Make use of our very pain
To sharpen the edge of your appetite:
Eat, drink and be merry.
For tomorrow you too will die!'
Some folk, of course, don't give a damn,
And tuck in regardless;
But these are less than human,
Blinkered less-than-beasts,
Mere stomachs to be filled;
They miss this added savour
Of compassion and thanksgiving,
The subtle Christmas blend
That makes New Years worth living.
