A Daily Christian Poem Series Leading to Christmas 2025
Introduction

Each day, a spark.
Each verse, a prayer.
From the turning leaves of September
to the manger’s quiet light,
we gather joy, not as escape,
but as witness.

This is not a countdown.
It’s a pilgrimage:
toward Emmanuel,
toward the Word made flesh,
toward the holy mischief of God-with-us.

Some sparks will rise from scripture,
some from sidewalk grace,
some from the ache of waiting.
But all will burn with the promise
that light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness has not overcome it.

So come,
bring your candle, your coffee, your longing.
Let us walk together through psalms and puddles,
through prophets and puppies,
through grief and gladness.

Let us strike the first spark
and watch joy take root
in the soil of our days.

I contemplate these crossings illuminated by clouds
between a shape of thought and its veils
we didn't invent a screen-reality
it was already there, in the scriptorium of mind
I contemplate this geography known only by fingertips
unworded broken lines in tense bodies
I wonder about the lineage of tears, of hopes
how we grow old in this ardour, in the burning of bridges
I nod, I frown at the glaze of time
I move to the center of seeing like a novice
I gaze at the poliphony of being
at our Janus faced trade with flames
I say to myself it's good to decenter the "I" in this poem
however,  there is no purity of words
height after height and depth after depth
we betray a simple evidence: we belong to the same air
will we regret our rush towards the malaise of thought,
will we be rowing over the theft of light?
an invisible will is building up, an antifragile declamation,
the soul's defamation

is love like silent stars
shining in a midnight sky
or crying moondust into
a gigantic ocean of pearls

or is it merely veins
twisting and untethering
between two hearts

it is for the skies and oceans to know
but for mere humans to feel

I am 'The Incredible Aging Man"
Aging right before your eyes
Something I plan to continue to do
Until the day I up and die

Watch as the wrinkles magically appear
In the most unlikely of places
See the thinning of hair, the enlarging of ears
The forgetfulness of where I last placed it

Learn how to use your patience
As over time I am losing mine
Using familiar phrases like it'll be okay
And you're going to be just fine

Show up with loud voices
As my hearing starts to wain
And feel free to read letters to me
As my eye sight does the same

Listen in as I moan and groan
When weak in the knees I bend and buckle
Come with me on the day they put me away
As I become increasingly befuddled

Sit with me here as into the distance I stare
Forgetting now who I am
I do so hope you enjoy the show
Of this "The Incredible Aging Man"

it ain't none of my business
but still breaks my heart
dropping my spare change
into your empty cup
no idea how
all this went down
it's none of my business
so i move along
as it sets me to wonder
how many of us
are one paycheck away
from our own paper cup
hoping above hope
that there is enough
change during the day
to at least buy some lunch
no it ain't none of my business
but still breaks my heart
dropping my spare change
into your empty cup

Let me breathe
    For a while
     The cloying air of depression will choke me
       All too soon

Let me see through eyes of youth
    For a while
      They will be jaded and blurred
         All too soon

Let me touch this fragile beauty
    For a while
        These hands will be shaking
           All too soon

Let me dream
    For a while
       I'll wake up to reality
         All too soon

Let me hold this day to my heart
    For a while
      Tomorrow will hurtle down
         All too soon

Let me be
    For a while
      I'll have to join the crowd
         All too soon

Let me live
    For a while
       This short life will be over
          All too soon

Let me fail
    Just this once
       I'll be fighting for success
          All too soon

Let me...
             For a while..