Menno Home Christmas

Best Christmases were long ago and far away.
Weihnacht? But all is wet and green; there is no snow.
“Good morning, Mrs. Rempel, how are you today?”

At breakfast munch the toast while carols play…
sang that one in a pageant once and stole the show;
best Christmases were long ago and far away.

No gifts for them! Ach, they want money anyway…
remember sock of nuts with orange in the toe?
“Good morning, Mrs. Rempel, are you well today?

“We’ll roll you to the sunroom where you’ll want to stay
and hear the school kids sing, then Santa—Ho, Ho, Ho!”
Best Christmases were long ago and far away.

“My dear, there’s someone special here who wants to pay
Christmas Eve visit, but she’s rushed—we can’t be slow.”
“Good evening mother darling. You look fine today.”

Another dreary morning, sky is weeping, gray.
Where’s Hank, the kids and Groszpa, where did they all go?
Best Christmases were long ago and far away…
“It’s Christmas, Mrs. Rempel! How are you today?”

Copyright © 2002 by Violet Nesdoly

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I’m re-publishing this poem today in honor of Villanelle Month at TS Poetry Press and the Tweetspeak blog.

Have you written a villanelle? Post it on your blog, then add the poem’s permalink to the collection on the TS Poetry Press Facebook Page to get a mention on the High Calling Photo-Play and Poem December roundup.

(This poem won first prize for Rhyming Poem in a 2002 Christmas poetry contest sponsored by Utmost Christian Writers.)