Time of Year

It’s that time of year again
for Christmas letters boasting

of children’s achievements, fun trips,

and photos around the glittering tree.

Time to max out credit cards

on gifts nobody needs or wants

and will use for white elephants.

Time to bake fancy decorated cookies,

breads, and cakes that put on pounds

we will spend the next year shedding.

Time to attend elaborate parties,

indulge in drinking and eating too much,

and feeling miserable the rest of the time.

So different from the first Christmas spent

in a drafty stable with smelly animals,

a homeless family and scruffy shepherds,

surrounded by angels singing,

“Peace on earth, good will to all.”