And so the festive season ends.

We bid farewell to these our friends:
the carols, lights and Christmas greens,
the pause recalling what it means
    to live with gratitude and hope,
the attitudes that help us cope
    with one more year of daily grind.

We wish that we could hold in mind
these feelings of release and joy,
of angels who their songs employ.

Goodbye to nog! to endless fudge!
to freedom from the need to judge!

Clichéd for sure to wish that we
could carry Christmas through the year,
but this cliché I'd willingly
adopt with faith–true and sincere!

Text and image © 2013 by Dirk deVries. All
rights reserved.
Detail of Holy Family with Angels and St. John, Anonymous, Peru.