.
The coziest wrap of a cuddle
To wear under snow-swollen skies;

The grin of a kith-and-kin huddle
To glisten in sparkling eyes;

A tipple of mistletoe kisses
To quench my intemperate thirst;

A feast of felicitous wishes
To dine on till I’m fit to burst;

A hand-in-hand stroll through gold moments
This magical myrrh-scented day;

A heart stoked with unspoken tokens
Of love to melt worry away;

Bright insight on life’s blurry journey;
A soul with the foresight to see

Such blessings don’t cost any money;
All heaven-sent presents are free…

Lest powers-that-be have forbidden
The gifts that no heart can forsake,

If so I’ll keep merriment hidden—
What tyrants don’t see they won’t take.

.

.

Susan Jarvis Bryant is a church secretary and poet whose homeland is Kent, England.  She is now an American citizen living on the coastal plains of Texas.  Susan has poetry published in the UK webzine, Lighten Up On Line, The Daily Mail, and Openings (anthologies of poems by Open University Poets).

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19 Responses

    • Susan Jarvis Bryant

      Thank you very much, my friend! Here’s wishing you a very merry time in spite of the world’s woes.

      Reply
    • Susan Jarvis Bryant

      Thank you, Yael! The Grinch better watch his furry, green back if he comes anywhere near my door. I’m set to shove a bunch of prickly, berry-laden holly up his… nose! 🙂

      Reply
  4. Carole Mertz

    I hope you don’t mind, I sent an excerpt of your poem to my sister—she and husband are diagnosed with Covid and decisions needed about whether or not to go to ER. Stressful. I thought the verses would comfort.

    Reply
    • Susan Jarvis Bryant

      Carole, of course I don’t mind and hope my words may be of some comfort. My thoughts are with you and your sister and her husband. I wish them a speedy and full recovery and I wish you all the best Christmas you can have under these stressful circumstances. Thank you very much for reading and commenting.

      Reply
    • Susan Jarvis Bryant

      ,,, also, please know the point of your comment isn’t lost on me. I hope you take comfort in the fact that there is a 99.7 percent survival rate unless your sister and brother-in-law are over 80 with 3 co morbidities and I sincerely hope that isn’t the case. My point is, the world is only locked down for some and it’s not the ones making and breaking the rules. I’m going nowhere this Christmas and I won’t be seeing my family. My poem is wishful thinking with an edge – an edge I’m sure will be shut down very soon.

      Reply
  5. Cynthia Erlandson

    Thank you, Susan, for the reminder that some of the most important things in life cannot be stolen. I’ve been thinking that all I want is my country back.

    Reply
    • Susan Jarvis Bryant

      I’m with you all the way, Cynthia. If the USA and the UK belonged to the citizens again, we’d all be having a mighty fine festive season. In spite of this nightmare of a situation, I wish you and yours the very best Christmas you can muster under these dire circumstances.

      Reply
  6. Jeff Eardley

    Susan, thank you again for a superb antidote to another impending pub, bar and fun shutdown here in England. I love “snow swollen skies” and “myrrh-scented day” You have the most astonishing way with words. Hope you and yours have a joyful break and hope you or Mike can check out legendary US country star, Chris Stapleton’s Covid Christmas album.

    Reply
    • Susan Jarvis Bryant

      Thank you, Jeff. I’m thrilled you think I have an “astonishing way with words” – I’m embracing the word “astonishing” and running with it. I’m so very sorry to hear of the second shutdown in England. We were meant to be visiting the UK this Christmas and I’m going to miss my family and friends. I think Chris Stapleton will cheer us up. Thanks again, and very best wishes to you and your family for the best Christmas celebration you can muster under current circumstances. Here’s to a better and brighter new year!

      Reply
  7. C.B. Anderson

    Since you live in Texas, what do you really know about “snow-swollen skies”? My own list is much shorter: a bottle of premium Scotch whisky to dissolve my sorrows from the bleakest November I can remember, and, perhaps, the unleashing of the Kraken, if the Good Lord so wills.

    Reply
    • Susan Jarvis Bryant

      C.B., you may be surprised to know we had snow a couple of years ago, although the sky was certainly not swollen with the stuff – blame that one on remembering winter days in England. Mike did, however, manage to make a gnome-sized snowman from the dusting we had. That was the year I learned not everything in Texas is bigger! I hope you’ve been a good enough boy for Santa to deliver everything on your list, especially the unleashing of the Kraken.

      Reply
      • C.B. Anderson

        It’s not up to me, Susan, but if it were, I might have a hard time deciding between the Scotch and the Kraken. Might I have both?

      • Susan Jarvis Bryant

        C.B., if I possessed a flying sleigh, a red-nosed reindeer and a crimson outfit trimmed with white fur, I would grant you your wish. Sadly, I’m just a would-be poet in T-shirt and jeans with a Christmas list of my own.

  8. David Watt

    Thank you Susan for a heartily uplifting poem. In current times it’s all too easy to lose track of the simple pleasures in life. Needless to say, your writing is top-notch.

    Reply
    • Susan Jarvis Bryant

      Thank you very much, David. Your lovely comments always make me smile. Here’s wishing you all the best for Christmas 2020, in spite of difficult circumstances.

      Reply

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