Another Christmas
You see it on the greeting cards, the frost, the furs, the sleigh
As I recall when I was young that was the Irish way
But mum and dad saw better times and took me by the hand
And journeyed far upon the tide to a new and distant land
Here there was no freezing snow when Christmas time drew near
While seafood and an ice cold drink became our festive cheer
We’d listen to our parents yarn and the stories they would tell
As bushfire smoke upon the breeze became the yuletide smell
Children scamper round the tree with gifts that never end
And those we’d hardly spoken to were treated as a friend
We were different folks for those few days, I wonder why – and then
I remind myself it’s all about the child of Bethlehem
I gaze upon the empty seats, where loved ones no longer sit
And remember names with glistening tears, when the Advent candles lit
It doesn’t hurt to pause awhile for those who now have gone
They may have left their earthly homes but their souls still live on
Now I am old and slowing down with grandkids of my own
It always seems a mystery where the time has flown
As the youngsters fall asleep I pop a well earned beer
And in Aussie style I thank the Lord I’ve lived another year
Nollaig Shona Dhuit to all the readers
From the Man in the Green Hat
Tomas ‘Paddy’ Hamilton
20 November 2014
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FILE PHOTO (December 2013): Aircrew from No. 36 Squadron, RAAF Base Amberley, enjoy a ‘traditional’ Christmas lunch onboard a C-17A Globemaster in transit to the Middle East. Photo by Sergeant W Guthrie.
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