There is nothing like the christmas arrivals
It’s something to do with the anticipation
Of meeting, catching up, news, tradition.
The welcome early ones shop,
Take dogs and children for walks,
Peel vegetables, light fires,
Discuss turkey timings endlessly
And can be relied on to make tea and mince pies.
And then it’s Christmas Eve.
Excited children may or may not go to bed
Exhausted adults wish they could go to bed
Yet there’s usually someone who still has to appear-
But would they bump into Santa?
That was my fear.
And then it was us, ending a late work shift
And driving across the country on emptying roads
Through velvet darkness
To make sure we have arrived in the house by Christmas Morning.
Did we ever see those reindeer?
Ah, that’s another story,
Look! The day’s dawning…
Jo Hansen 