Christmas Tunes, 2020
written by: CTD Robinson
@CTDRobinson
This year, when I play,
the tunes—part truth, part dream—
deliver and transform:
“I’ll be home for Christmas”—
“Someday soon, we all will be together.”
I savor the safety of imagination,
of a ceramic Christmas village,
aglow with white lights, above
a fireplace roaring, of decades-old
reds, greens and blues as they blink
below a handmade angel, of Mom’s
blueberry pancakes lingering over
shiny-wrapped packages; bodies move
in and out to open and close gifts,
then get dinner going. Later, a walk,
and books in hands. Deck the Halls
as others quietly listen.
This year, I play earlier than most.
With an “audience” of one in some
other room as he works, and a cat
napping elsewhere, our tree still
to come, I turn my longing to the
tunes and they take me. When
a wrong note comes, I glide over it,
ever reaching for my imagined picture.
Even now, alone, the songs sense
the other years. With reassuring notes,
familiar words, I am transported.
I can feel the Christmas cheer.
- Christmas Tunes, 2020 - December 16, 2020
- The Cat’s Rondel - July 19, 2020
