“I say to myself that I shall try to make my life like an open fireplace, so that people may be warmed and cheered by it and so go out themselves to warm and cheer.”
—George Matthew Adams
Why is it we love this season’s return?
Perhaps because the notes of change
are so much more than a fall in temperature,
the harmony of landscape colors,
the fallow earth’s gentle, stilling nap,
the bustle to find all the right gifts —
all of this but even more, so begins
the move into the cheery season,
when home provides a different warmth,
the comfort of stews and teas,
the decadence of marshmallowy cocoa,
the smell of baking gingerbread,
and much like in Dickens’ A Christmas Carol,
all the warming ways melt our hearts
to a good cheer, when we forgive,
practice a kinder charity, seek to serve
humanity, and celebrate community —
I find that same voice that Scrooge
eventually summons: “I will honor
Christmas in my heart, and try to keep
it all the year.… God bless us, everyone!
—C.L. Fisher, December 2021
Unless otherwise indicated, all writings and images are the work of C.L. Fisher and may not be copied, used, or distributed without permission.
Poetic Meanderings 