Wednesday, November 26, 2008

The Joy Of Christmas





















The Joy of Christmas

It was the night before Christmas
The house was dark.
Silent.
Cold.

A little child
Huddled under blankets
Shivering
Alone
In tears.

Remembering
“Uuwi ako, anak.”
Waiting
Anticipation
Son and mother
Putting up lights
Christmas tree
Guiding star

Last minute preparations
Noche Buena
Honey-glazed ham
Quezo de Bola
All done

When the clock struck twelve
Instead of “Maligayang Pasko”
“Nasaan siya, Mommy?”

A hint of bitterness
Accusation
Broken promises.

A child
At the foot of the stairs
Clutching a home-made card
Stained with tears.

Now he’s in bed
Sobs tearing through him.
Until he cried himself to sleep.

A gentle hand
Touching his shoulders
Mommy
“May naghahanap sa iyo, iho.”
Slowly descending
Not daring to hope.

A man standing in the soft light
“Maligayang Pasko, anak.”
His eyes lit up
As he ran to his dad
With open arms.

Holding the shiny red truck
He could ask for nothing more
Daddy’s home.

This is dedicated to all the families with a loved one working abroad, and to my own, for being around to share the Christmas holidays. Merry Christmas!

Bingo Tongco - written on December 25, 2001

4 comments:

popoytoy said...

Ahhhhh. touching. I hope I still have a dad to share my chrismas with and greet me 'merry christmas' every eve. =(

jim nev said...

@dave, sayo na lang tatay ko. hehehe..

popoytoy said...

@JimNev - meganon!! ako nga nakikitatay na lang sa papa ni cholo, okay naman sa kanya. Yun nga lang, d nya alam na asawa ko na ang anak nya. hehehe. happy na din ako sa ganon. atleast i get to celebrate special occasions with his dad, at least parang may dad pa din ako.

GWINCHEESE said...

Akala ko si Santa Claus yung hinahanap nung bata heheheh! Nakakamiss din yung kapiling ang tatay...aaawww namiss ko tuloy yung mga sermon ng tatay ko sa akin.