Anticipation -- Our First Holiday Season Together

(John’s perspective)

winter holidays approach and I am new to loving you

but I neither bake nor decorate – on my own so long

and so wounded

what traditions will we share in this time of winter

our love still new as spring?

i imagine Christmas as symbolic

of the tender care we show to one another

and the exchange of the gift of our hearts

already given

like Hanukkah, we show a faithfulness

rooted in ancient tradition

steadfast and confident

we know the flame of our love can be everlasting

Kwanzaa reflects our collective strength

rooted in principles held and ancestors honored

essential to who we are and what we have become

our lives pour a living libation to our fathers

but the mystery of Solstice

reveals the bare essence of our love

as we draw in together in quiet darkness of winter

just we two

awaiting the healing renewal that love can perform

as the wheel turns and brings all again

from cold shadow into the resplendent light

--May your holidays be filled with love and light--