Edgar Guest and Li-Young Lee capture our family gathering of this past week, both the joy of being together and the memories of those we have lost.
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Tag Archives: Christmas
Two Family Poems for the New Year
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged “Family Gathering", “Stick-Together Family", “Stopping in the Woods on a Snowy Evening", Edgar Guest, family reunions, Li-Young Lee, Robert Frost Comments closed
The Power of Dickens’s Christmas Carol
My son Tobias Wilson-Bates on the power of Dickens’s “Christmas Carol” and how Dickens reinvented Christmas.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "New Year's Gift", “Ceremonies for Christmas", “True Christmas", Charles Dickens, Christmas Carol, Henry Vaughan Comments closed
My Favorite Christmas Story as a Child
“Why the Chimes Rang,” my favorite Christmas story as a child, tells what it takes for us to hear our inner chimes.
The Quest of the Marvelous Tree
In “Quest of the Marvelous Tree,” Scott Bates captures the magic of Christmas.
Böll on Desperately Clinging to the Past
Heinrich Böll’s “Christmas Not Just Once a Year” captures the yearning to return to the past that animates many Trump supporters.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Christmas Not Just Once a Year, Heinrich Böll, Nostalgia, Trumpism Comments closed
The Real Story of Christmas
Scott Bates points out the multicultural aspects of the Nativity in “Christmas at the Courthouse.”
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Christmas at the Courthouse", Scott Bates, syncretism, War on Christmas Comments closed
Memories of Being Read To
This Scott Bates Christmas poem celebrates reading together before an open fire. Many of the children’s classics I grew up with, it so happens, have an environmental theme.
Birds as Heavenly Messengers
A Scott Bates poem about birds flocking around feeders in the snow captures the mystical transformation that cultures dream of during the dark days of winter.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Bird Watcher's Christmas Dinner", Hermes Trismegistus, Scott Bates, Winter solstice Comments closed
Christmas at Cohen’s Garage
Scott Bates updates the birth of Jesus, having him born in a gas station.