What is Christmas?, 7th Annual Holiday Classic Options

[JLY]

WHAT IS CHRISTMAS?

Christmas has become a retailing season,
creatively marketed, wearily celebrated;
like an infomercial, it touts a potent reason
to prize extravagant gifts we’ve coveted.

Christmas is not a call to shop ‘til you drop,
or go over your limit, spend your last dime
as shoppers overrun malls, scurrying nonstop
with a mercenary bent that’s seldom sublime.

Christmas is not just for baubles and glitz,
or lavish parties and candy cane martinis;
nor a time to wallow in fantasies like a ditz
of Santa’s helpers clad in red velvet bikinis.

Christmas should be joyous and peaceful,
free of strain, ill will, and empty emotions;
wrapped in starlight our souls remain hopeful
as loving angels grace us with heavenly notions.

Christmas doesn’t need a grand, center stage,
its message is a blessing for all that believe;
a generous spirit is free, not limited by age,
and a forgotten faith you can always retrieve.