A family Christmas.

A family Christmas.

Keep the cold at bay.

Try as you may,

It gets harder

The older you get.

Sleeping in,

Lazing the day away,

Seems like a plan.

But keep warm if you can.

It is easier said than done,

If you sleep on the run.

In a shop doorway,

Beneath a hedge,

In some muddy byway.

Beneath tarpaulin,

Decorated with

A few Christmas lights,

And reclaimed tinsel.

Have a few festive bites,

Dumpster meals,

Followed by festive reels,

And a quart of booze,

To ward off the worst

Of the weather

They mentioned on the news.

And sing a few songs

From the old country,

While some old guy

Plays the blues,

On a guitar rescued

From the dump.

Whoever threw it, was a chump.

But maybe it was never

Played with such conviction.

The words were raw,

Played fast and loose,

Made a certain truth,

From a poet’s fiction.

And at the last they slept,

Beneath throw-away’s

They found in a black bag

And kept.

What a sight,

Wrapped up tight,

Huddled all together,

Keeping warm,

And free from harm,

For one more night.

Back to work on the farm

At first light.