Capturing Christmas

Christmas is almost upon us, but I feel as if I'm running after it, trying to capture its essence as if it were an elusive snowflake caught on a current of wind. So I play carols on spotify. I stare at the lights on our Christmas tree, and I ponder how to "feel" Christmas-y

  And I also wonder:

Where has Christmas magic      gone?

Did I leave it in the land of childhood where

We breathed the rare air

Of bigger-than-life hopes and dreams

All hanging on the happenings

Of one December night

When sleigh bells 

And angel songs 

Shimmered the air 

Like silvering of the veil between seen and not seen?

When did sleepless eves of Christmas past

Bright lights and starry eyes

Give way to growing up?

And when did suspension of belief 

Meld slowly into a surer and less sweet knowledge that magic,

Christmas magic,

Is fragile?

I don't have those answers,

But I do know this:

Christmas magic may be fragile 

And yet it endures

Preserved by the strong belief of children

And the strong love of adults who hold the stage curtains as backdrop

For a generation who in their turn will grow up and light the lights, 

Play the music,

Tell the Birthday story,

And keep Christmas magic shimmering

And alive for one more year.