I am putting off Ferlinghetti for one more week to post my favorite holiday poem. Ralph Murre is the former Poet Laureate of Door County, Wisconsin. He is also the author of several books of poetry, the publisher of Little Eagle Press and RE/Verse (both currently on extended hiatus), an artist, and a musician with a YouTube channel. In short, Ralph is a modern day bard extraordinaire. If you are not familiar with Ralph’s poetry, then now would be a good time to look up more of his excellent work.
I came across this poem several years ago and fell in love with it. I read it each year at this time. You should too. “Yes, even the fruitcake.”
In Dark December by Ralph Murre
Whatever you believe,
whatever you do not,
there are sacred rites
you must perform
in dark December.
Do this for me:
Pull together
the kitchen table,
the folding table,
and that odd half-oval
usually covered
with bills and broken pencils
and red ink.
Pull together family and friends,
cool cats and stray dogs alike.
Turn off everything
except colored lights,
the roaster,
the toaster, the stove.
Cook. Bake. Eat.
Yes, even the fruitcake.
Eat, crowded around
those assembled tables
with mismatched chairs.
Reach so far
in your sharing
that you hold the sun
in one hand,
the stars in the other,
and no one between is hungry.
Now walk together,
talk together,
be together
on these darkest nights.
Give and forgive.
Light candles and ring bells.
Sing the old songs.
Tell the old stories
one more time,
leaving nothing out,
leaving no one out
in the long night,
leaving nothing wrong
that you can make right.
See you next week.
Ed