.

Christmas in Florida

I watched him pass! St. Nick himself—Kris Kringle,
Who hails from Buffalo, not the North Pole.
He waved; I heard bells on his golf-cart jingle
As he sang karaoke rock and roll.

That’s how it is here. Golf-carts in procession:
New Jerseyites, New Yorkers, Michiganders
Who’ve moved where tropic heat is an obsession;
Where pickleball is king and time meanders.

The high today’s a chilly 69.
The sky is blue, there’s sea-salt in the breeze,
The grass is green. And no, I do not pine
For snow-slush roads or knives of ice on trees.

Instead, there’s mangoes, Spanish moss, and guavas.
It’s pleasanter to holiday in shorts
Than freeze while wearing gloves and balaclavas.
We’ve traded skating rinks for tennis courts.

Yet Christmas is still Christmas without snow!
We spend time at the beach and see Three Ships.
The Little Star? A starfish. Children glow
From sunscreen and wax balm upon their lips.

Frogs croak, hibiscus and magnolias bloom,
As alligators gather in the marsh.
No issues with the inns—there’s always room;
And late December weather’s never harsh.

I pray the angels find us in this place
Of sweeping river vistas and king palms!
This pleasure dome yet offers sacred space
For those who choose to contemplate the Psalms.

I’ve seen men baptized at the river side.
And palm fronds lead us to Jerusalem
Where Jesus entered on an ass astride.
Is Boca all that far from Bethlehem?

A pink flamingo oversees a manger,
Where three Wise Men in beach attire gaze
At Christ with awe. Though Florida seems stranger
Than other states, we yet give God full praise!

.

.

Brian Yapko is a retired lawyer whose poetry has appeared in over fifty journals.  He is the winner of the 2023 SCP International Poetry Competition. Brian is also the author of several short stories, the science fiction novel El Nuevo Mundo and the gothic archaeological novel  Bleeding Stone.  He lives in Wimauma, Florida.

NOTE TO READERS: If you enjoyed this poem or other content, please consider making a donation to the Society of Classical Poets.

The Society of Classical Poets does not endorse any views expressed in individual poems or commentary.


Trending now:

22 Responses

  1. Mary Gardner

    Brian, I enjoyed the skillful rhymes and fresh descriptions – a flamingo by the manger scene, the starfish, three ships, and the palm fronds foretelling Christ’s entry into Jerusalem.
    Your poem is spot on. We celebrate the Lord’s birth with full fervor in these mild climes. A joyous Christmas season to all from Valparaiso FL (about 50 miles east of Pensacola)!

    Reply
    • Brian A. Yapko

      Thank you so much, Mary! I still have not been to the Florida panhandle and am looking for a visit up thataway. I’ve heard that it’s more traditionally Southern than where I live in Tampa Bay.

      Yes, we do indeed celebrate Christ with full fervor despite the mild climate. I love that about Florida. Unlike other places where I’ve lived, faith here does not hide nor does it feel the need to apologize for its existence. What a difference that makes in one’s confidence in being able to say “Merry Christmas” without getting scolded!

      I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and best wishes for a happy new year!

      Reply
  2. Roy Eugene Peterson

    You should work for the Florida Tourist Bureau! This was both fun and serious with your usual panache and intrinsic well-crafted words and thoughts. Now I have to envision flamingos around the creche. You certainly painted the perfect picture in poetry of your new life of living in Florida. It is like you have returned to your youth. Merry Christmas, Brian!

    Reply
    • Brian A. Yapko

      Thank you, Roy. What a great comment! Florida doesn’t need me, but it’s a fun thought. In some ways I have indeed returned to my youth (and not because the Founatain of Youth is present in nearby St. Augustine.) I just am enamored with a state in which there is so much to do and see and where — after living only in blue states — I finally feel free to speak my mind both in politics and religion. I’ve never experienced that before moving to the “free state of Florida.” It’s invigorating.

      I hope you had a very Merry Christmas, Roy, and wish you a happy, healthy,, prosperous 2025.

      Reply
  3. Jeff Eardley

    Brian, I wonder how many of the golfers are sporting antlers today? I love the super imagery from your new life in the sun. We are shivering with envy over here. Absolute genius again, we expect no less.
    Best wishes for a great day.

    Reply
    • Brian A. Yapko

      Thank you so much, Jeff! I’m sure there were plenty of Santa-hats and reindeer antlers on the golf courses as well as at the pools and the pickleball courts. It does get cool here and we reently dipped down to 40 degrees F. But for the most part, around 50 at night, low 70s during the day. I love it.

      I hope you had a marvelous Christmas and wish you a wonderful 2025.

      Reply
  4. Paul Freeman

    It’s almost become a meme, Santa surfing ashore on Bondi Beach, Australia. This is therefore a refreshing ‘alternative’ Xmas venue you’ve described so vividly in your poem, Brian.

    Reply
    • Brian A. Yapko

      Thank you very much, Paul. I’ve never seen Santa on Bondi Beach before so I’m going to look him up! After spending all that time at the North Pole and then his hard work on Christmas Eve, Santa deserves a little R&R out in the sun!

      Reply
  5. Gigi Ryan

    Dear Brian,
    I’ve never Christmased in Florida, but have now had a taste of it in this very fun poem. Indeed, God can be given full praise anywhere, as you say.

    Our trees are winter bare here in Tennessee, but I wasn’t sorry to have a warm (60’s) Christmas this year.

    Merry Christmas!
    Gigi

    Reply
    • Brian A. Yapko

      Thank you very much, Gigi! I’ve long entertained the wish of going to Dollywood for Christmas and having an enchanting rustic snowy adventure there. A Christmas in the 60s sounds like Florida!

      I hope you had a very Merry Christmas!

      Reply
  6. Margaret Coats

    Brian, this brings warm memories of growing up as a native Floridian, always with winter visitors and many neighbors who had settled down against colder climates. After I made my home elsewhere, I was often back for Christmas, enjoying a December beach day with my brother and sisters. The weather in Bethlehem may not have been as tropical, but as you say, probably closer to Florida than an icy white Christmas. I notice happily the many allusions you make to the sacred, even before you explicitly claim Florida as a place where God is fully praised. My own special memory of this sacred time is something that I hope still happens, namely, midnight Mass with the congregation in evening dress. Gentlemen in tuxedos or military dress uniform, and for the modesty required in church, ladies with fine shawls or mink stoles over any low-cut dress. Your pleasure dome turned into sacred space would definitely apply. Merry Christmas!

    Reply
    • Brian A. Yapko

      Thank you so much, Margaret! I was in Bethlehem in 1973 as part of a tour of Israel. It was as dry, hot and on the desert-side of a Mediterranean climate as the rest of Israel so not at all like northern climes. Actually its climate is much closer to what you experience in inland Southern California than to Florida. And I don’t think it snows there but every so often it will snow in Jerusalem which is at elevation. Photographs of Jerusalem in the snow are in fact enchanting.

      And yes, as improbable as it may seem to those who have not been here, I perceive Florida as a place where God is fully praised — especially after having experienced states where love of Christmas is muted and blurred with “the holidays.” I have not yet experienced the formality you describe at Midnight Mass but have no doubt that yours is a heart-warming and accurate depiction.

      I hope you had a very Merry Christmas and that 2025 will be a healthy, joyous, prosperous year for you!

      Reply
  7. Adam Sedia

    I can’t say I’ve had the pleasure of spending Christmas in the tropics — although on Christmas Eve with my Argentine in-laws I’m treated to the grilled steaks and cold salads of a southern-hemisphere Christmas. I really appreciate (to echo Margaret) your allusions to the Nativity and even St. John the Baptist, reminding us that what Christmas celebrates is universal, and snowy weather obscures that to an extent.

    Reply
    • Brian A. Yapko

      Thank you so much for reading and commenting, Adam! I think you would be pleasantly surprised by the reverence which exists here in F/lorida for the miracle of Christmas even as it is celebrated with a certain amount of camp, kitsch and love of sunshine. As for the universality of Christmas — you are spot on. We must remember that a substantial percentage (possibly a majority!) of the Christian world hovers in or adjacent to the tropics. Mexico, Brazil, Peru, massive swaths of sub-Saharan Africa, the Philippines — places where the snow and cold weather and so many of the symbols we associate with Christmas are not present. Even in Israel it is a rarity. There’s a good likelihood that the Holy Family never experienced snow.

      Reply
  8. C.B. Anderson

    By Jesus, Brian, I almost feel that you are making fun of us poor schmucks who must endure strings of frigid days and pay exorbitant prices for heating oil. But you should be relieved to know that not everyone in the country is going to move to Florida. If that happened, the entire peninsula would likely sink into the Gulf of Mexico and all of our orange juice would come from Radicalifornia — God forbid! If you see Donald, please tell him that we’re counting on him.

    Reply
    • Brian A. Yapko

      Thank you for reading and commenting, C.B. If I’m making fun of those live in the cooler climes, it is in the nature of whistling in the dark with relief at no longer facing a 10 below wind-chill when I walk the dog. I am making equal fun of the pickleball-karaoke ex-Northerners who ride about in golf carts and often act as if they are living on the Lido Deck of a cruise ship. I’m amused by them but do not quite relate. And no, we cannot have more people moving to Florida until the infrastructure catches up. Traffic here has become terrible.

      I would go all the way to Palm Beach to say hello to Donald if it got me into Mar-A-Lago. But if I do bump into him at McDonalds I’ll be sure to say hello for you and let him know how much we appreciate all he’s doing for our country!

      Reply
  9. Joseph S. Salemi

    I think many of us, no matter where we were born or raised, have a picture of Christmas which is strongly influenced by inherited imagery of wintry English weather. Even today much Christmas decor will suggest snowfall, burning Yule logs, sleighs, heavy clothing, fireplaces, and plum puddings blazing with ignited brandy. These northern European images have stuck with all of us, and they are also pleasant because of the coziness and warmth that they suggest as a kind of contrast. Brian used to live in New Mexico, where none of these English images were naturally present, and now that he lives in Florida the same situation prevails. But he points out that Christmas is Christmas, no matter where you are.

    I’m from New York, where there almost always is snowfall by December 25. One year when I was a child, for some perverse reason there was no snow on that day. I was utterly shocked and baffled!

    Reply
    • Brian A. Yapko

      Thank you for reading and commenting Joe. Yes, Christmas is about honoring the birth of Christ and that can be done anywhere from the North Pole to the Sahara desert. My ultimate point in this poem is to offer a gently satiric view of winter life in Florida while at the same time praising a state where Christmas is honored even if we lack some of the associations that are present in the colder states. I feel I put in my dues with heavy winter snows, sub-zero windchill and air so cold it burned the lungs! I’m sure you experience these things regularly in a New York winter.

      I love all the English Christmas items you mention and am glad you broadened your reference to Northern Europe. The Christmas tree, of course, comes from Germany through Prince Albert. And the carol Silent Night (“Stille Nacht”) is from Austria — specifically, Salzburg. There are many more German contributions to traditional Christmas celebrations. One of my favorites is gingerbread which comes from Nuremberg.

      Reply
  10. Susan Jarvis Bryant

    Brian, I love this poem! Having moved from England to Texas, the change in traditions came as rather a surprise – one I’ve embraced with an open mind, a big heart, and a sense of wonderment at the way we all celebrate the greatest gift ever given to the human race so differently yet so beautifully. Your poem has taken me to yet another sphere of joy and awe – and I just adore that pink flamingo overseeing a manger. Thank you for this big smile of a poem that paints gloriously entertaining pictures of a Floridian Christmas yet never loses sight of the reason for the season.

    Reply
    • Brian A. Yapko

      Thank you so much, Susan! I love hearing your England to Texas story and it occurs to me that the cultural foundations we bring with us to new places can greatly enrich the experience. We get the best of both worlds! I love it that you can make a quintessentially English Christmas pudding in Texas and by doing so blend traditions and introduce something wonderful to those of us for whom it is novel. Such exchanges are a gift and everyone wins.

      You would not believe the number of decor flamingos that are out at Christmas-time in Florida. Most of them have little santa hats or antlers. They are probably outnumbered by bermuda shorts Santas. And yet so very many serious creches. There’s a little bit of cognitive dissonance going on here. But in the end, it is indeed about respect for, and celebration of, the birth of Christ. As you point out, “the reason for the season.” So, whimsy and all, I know I’m in the right place.

      And when it comes to Christmas decor, I bet Texas has some iconic doozies.

      Reply
  11. David Dixon

    Brian I can only echo others, ‘Thank you for this lovely, perceptive gift’, and ‘isn’t creation wonderful in its beauty and variety’!

    Reply
    • Brian A. Yapko

      Thank you so much, David! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and that you will be blessed with a happy, healthy 2025!

      Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.