A C*******s - well, OK, seasonal - plea..
Art brings a smile and a message.
Thus the art of ‘Christmas’ cards…
(and I use the word loosely,
as its public use is now disapproved…)
A folded card: that’s four smallish sides to fill.
An appropriate seasonal smile on Page One;
Page Two requires nothing,
blank but room for something else to say
in lieu of that family catch-up print-out page
your children will have helped with; or maybe not..
Page Three offers a seasonal message – but
watch out these days – ‘you can’t use
THAT for THEM…’ oh of course, they’re,
what exactly? Crypto-Buddhists?
Lapsed Amish? Richard Dawkins and
his, er, dour or smiling family ?
Page Four – the great let-out
for the card’s – and implicitly your –
abysmal grey vapidity…
it’s a charity card!
No money for the Hallmark millionaires!
So spare a thought this season, for
those who have to choose those
cards for charities…
non-denominational, non-racist,
politically correct but only in
a negative sense – no dolphins
or humpback whales with an
ambivalent Monna Lisa smile:
your Japanese friends might sense a slight…
For suspected closet Christians
where the charity’s along those lines,
it’s back to symbol and the catacombs
and secret worshippers – perhaps
a burning nightlight, hinting
faith, in outer, inner, darkness?
or if that’s risky, then the January snowdrop,
suggesting hope, continuance..
for children’s charities, you can risk
a teddy bear – so far, no pulpit East or West
has denounced him as a capitalist, or as
American as Roosevelt…or an
endangered species thus dismissed…
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poem by Michael Shepherd
Added by Poetry Lover
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