Christmas Wishes

Christmas Wishes

Its Christmas time in the city,
And ribbons hang from every tree,
In red and green,
Silver and gold,
A festive feeling in the air.

Folks rush about,
Dashing here and there,
Going from store to store.
Sleigh bells in the air,
Twinkling a merry sound.

In a home just out of the city,
A mother and her children,
Lay down their heads in prayer.
It's Christmas Eve,
And there are many hopes in store.

Slowly they crawl into bed,
And lay their heads down to sleep,
Humming a merry tune
About dancing sugar plums,
And gifts under the tree.

The mother walks into her room,
She knows it will be an early morning,
Full of faces filled with hope,
And tears of joy, so strong you can't hold it in.
She looks out her window and wishes upon a star.

"Please let my husband come back to me safe
It is the only thing I want for the holidays,
The only thing I need.
To hear your husky voice, sweet with emotion,
To see the tears in your eyes."

"To see you drop your duffel and hug us all,
Squeezing the breath out of us.
Kissing each one of us in time,
Not caring if you mess up your uniform,
Just hugging us like you never want to let go."

She turns away from the window,
And crawls into bed,
Snuggling into her pillows,
Dreaming of good things,
And thinking of happy endings too.

She awakes to small hands,
Grabbing her arm and pulling her out of bed.
Its Christmas morning
And spirits are bright
Today all their wishes will come true.

The children are excited,
Ripping open presents,
And throwing wrapping paper everywhere.
But still a sad feeling abounds,
Their hero isn't there.

They hear a sound,
Tap, tap, tapping
Like reindeer hooves upon the door.
Everyone gets up,
Hoping that their own Santa is near.

The mother gets up and walks to the door,
Throwing it open with hope in her eyes.
Standing on the doorstep,
Are two grim faced officials,
With sadness in their eyes.

The mother cries out,
Terror racing across her face,
Gathering her children to her,
Hoping this wasn't what she feared
Praying this wasn't what she feared.

"I am sorry, ma'am"
Says one of the men shaking his head
"He didn't make it.
I offer you my condolences,
He was an exceptional man."

The mother sobs out
Unintelligible words,
Nearly screaming in her pain.
As her children stand next to her
Not understanding what is going on.

The men turn around and leave,
They have seen so much
That this is nothing new to them
They can leave the pain behind,
Continuing on with their lives.

You can hear the sobs throughout the neighborhood
The cries of soul wrenching pain
Of the three souls
Soon others join in
Having found out what has happened.

The bright and happy colors are changing in the city
Red, green, silver and gold ribbons
Hang no more,
Red, white and blue ribbons hang everywhere-
There is sadness in the air

Folks sit morosely in their seats,
Tears in their eyes,
The nearly hysterical sobbing
Of a widow and her children
Dressed from head to toe in black.

The tinkling bells are gone,
Long lost in the sorrow
That fell like a heavy blanket
Replaced by the piercing sounds
Of a gun salute to the fallen.

And with every shot
The widow jerked in her seat
For years to come,
The sound of a gunshot will haunt her
And she will shake remembering memories.

As they lowered the casket and folded the flag,
The widow whispered to the sound of dirt hitting the casket,
"Merry Christmas darling,
Soon I will join you."

January 5, 2012

I wrote this poem as a remembrance to all of those that we have lost; all of those that struggle on.

I know personally the memories of losing someone loved and cherished, of closing my eyes and seeing the casket being lowered into the ground. The pain of memories ripping through my mind at the sound of a gun salute will always be there. It's not always only the passed away that have been hurt; but their families as well.

No matter what holiday it happens to be when you read this poem, open your heart and support any one that needs help. Hundreds of people every year live this horror and devastation, thousands more fear it may happen to them.

Men, women and their families give up their lives in search of freedom.

It is up to us to help these families out in any way they need- whether It be a hug and best wishes or something more.

When you see a flag, a veteran, or a devastated family, this is when you remember most that-

FREEDOM ISN'T FREE.