Where is hope, this time of year, as some are wont to shed a tear,
wondering if it exists, in a world that leans and lists.

As if you have the wherewithal to stay above the means at all;
emotions ragged, fractured too – thinking all depends on you.

Hope against itself to win the inconceivable, again
your hope- against all hope will be your dream, your joy, a victory.

Remember this – a tale of old – of a child born in the cold
in a tiny stable there in a town where no-one cared.

Thus began a simple life, bound with hardship- full of strife.
Yet in his story, we can see a dream, a joy, a victory,

all encompassed in a soul who loved his fellow man, in whole
or maybe just in part, because he knew what difficulty was.

Who knows best that love is blind to all our faults, and we will find
that when we stop to ponder this, emotions that we can’t dismiss,

we are bound to seek the aire of happiness at Christmas, where
in a world gone wild, disgraced – we find it on a child’s sweet face.

A simple smile with wondering eyes, full of sparkle, no disguise
will stop us from our self-defeat and bring us back to where we meet

the once-young child in each of us. We celebrate the hopefulness
with inner peace, contentment grows, something that our smiling shows.

And all it seems your heart desires – no more than anyone requires –
is gained by giving of yourself in ways that open others’ hearts and sways

their temperament to one of cheer -especially this time of year-
and bringing forth a simple smile that’s worth the effort and the while.

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