My Heart, My Sanctuary

Once-Upon-A-Time Christmas

A reflection on the book, A Christmas Carol, from the perspective of Ebenezer Scrooge

🎄

My skin had long touched the cold,

But still so fixed was my faraway look

That I had not stirred, had not trembled--

For the mind makes one forgetful

As it travels into the depths of a longing,

Seeking its own way through the windows

Of the huts gazing at my palace.

🎄

What a sight to see them bent in prayer,

Thanking they have, forgetting they had none,

For the little table once starving

Now sat contented and uncomplaining.

What a sight to see the little ones jump

With delight upon that meager banquet

Of rawboned chicken and stale bread.

Or see the brightly-lit windows

That seemed a thousand lanterns,

Floating from it the merriest of songs

And the loudest of laughters--

For all was just once-upon-a-time.

🎄

Now, I could not count the many times I sighed,

Nor could I leave until the lights died down.

That simple joy and serenity I seek

I could not find in this blessed night.

This night that had never brought me such delight,

Nor sang the merriest of songs

And laughed the loudest of laughters--

For my Christmas was never once-upon-a-time.