The season is upon us! Blessings!
Two Advent Poems
I. On Looking at Advent Calendars on Pinterest
Wanting to upgrade beyond the
cheap paper calendars,
craving large pockets for candy canes
and activity cards to foster family unity,
I took an innocent peak at Pinterest
at eleven before bed.
An hour later, trying to sleep
I tossed and turned,
visions of glue guns dancing in my head.
Suddenly this modest ritual,
this red carpet ushering in Christmas,
beckoned in twenty four permutations,
all the lifestyles I could be having.
There in little boxes on virtual boards,
from primitive to princess-y,
was my mountain cabin with mini-sleds
and cedar boughs,
the high-rise apartment with bedazzled bows.
I could live in a restored salt box in Ohio,
be folksy transferring children’s drawings,
or in Norway using wood cuts and wool felt!
I must have more children so I can make
calendars out of baby socks,
more dogs so I can employ pet toys!
At the craft store, one of two in my town,
a Pinterest board comes alive in twelve dimensions,
beckoning aisles of tiny decorations
to add to my advent creations.
All made in China, the Chinese
have become the elves for the world,
toiling all year in factories for whatever fancy
store buyers deem is this year’s fashion,
I imagine the orders for chalkboards
and reindeer! paisleys and pom poms!
It reminds me of all things internet,
suddenly instead of choosing
from rack of clothing or a shelf of shoes,
I have access to all the styles, designers
in multiple price points all over the whole world.
On Match.com my pool
of potential mates ripples indefinitely.
I could click on the perfect height and eye color,
a mate the ideal age and vocation!
A man above or below or at my exact station!
The grocery store is bad enough,
with three kinds of pizza crust,
twelve scents of deodorant,
maxi pads with and without wings.
On the Internet,
I receive a pop up add for the Inner Engineer,
a long bearded yogi
who promises if I learn twenty-one asanas
and master only one,
I will know God-consciousness.
I want to!
Become enlightened before Christmas!
Next year I’ll transcend the whole thing!
II. Recipe for Advent,
an invitation for more meaning, inspired by Rudolf Steiner
Take one small table,
cover with a white cloth,
add a wreath and four tapered candles.
The first Sunday of December
light one candle to celebrate the earth,
circle it with a few stones, crystals and shells.
For a few days notice the ground
beneath your feet,
salt when you season your food,
behold a mountain.
The second Sunday, add the next candle,
among the shells and stones,
add leaves and mosses,
walk outdoors and collect pine cones
and dried seed pods.
Blow a kiss to grasses and trees.
The third Sunday, light the third candle
to welcome the animals,
If you have a nativity scene,
place the lambs and doting cow.
Bless the finches at the feeder,
the raccoons foraging in your trash cans,
your steak if you eat it.
The fourth Sunday, light all four candles
to honor the gift of being human,
from the creche, bring Mary and Joseph,
the three wise bowing men.
Let them take shelter among the stones
and leaves and animals.
This week let every human you encounter
be your teacher, your friend.
Finally on Christmas morning,
let the Christ child arrive,
place him in the center
as you would your own babe,
as hopefully or you hoped
your own mother
and father beheld you,
now welcome everyone
with such light and love.