A Dublin Christmas

A Dublin Christmas

written by: Julian Lee

 

The Liffey sleeps beneath a pale moon’s gleam,
While Grafton’s lights still dance like in a dream.
Old lampposts flicker through the frosty air,
And magic hums like footsteps everywhere.

We queued in wool coats, breath like silver mist,
Outside Switzer’s window, cheeks by cold wind kissed.
The tinseled shopfronts pressed against the night,
Our noses to the glass in pure delight.

The toy ads played on RTÉ each eve,
With cardboard wings and hopes we chose to weave.
A Barry’s tea, the Late Late’s gentle tune,
And Mam would say, “It’ll be Christmas soon.”

The smell of turf and Sunday roasting ham,
The creak of floors, the whispered hope to Mam.
Stockings by fires glowing faint and low,
While snow was rare, but dreams still made it so.

Though years have flown past O’Connell Street’s span,
Those Christmas nights still warm my heart.
For Dublin holds within her winter’s grace
The child I was, still smiling in that place.