4th Place Winner, November/December 2013 Contest: “In The Last Month Of The Year”

4th Place
“In The Last Month Of The Year”
By Steve Waldhauser
Saint Peter, Minnesota

All the stars were spilled like diamonds
On a velvet cloth of night
The carolers had wandered down the lane
I was standing in the doorway
As if to fix the sight
Afraid that it might never come again
For the voices singing “Silent Night”
And the starlight on the snow
Took me to a Christmas far from here
And it struck me that those silver bells
No longer ring so clear
In the darkest days of winter
In the last month of the year

We would light a thousand candles
To hold the dark at bay
And convince ourselves we’re doing all we should
Amid the tinsel and the holly
You can surely lose your way
And never realize it if you would
We act like fools and lovers
Filled with longing and with dread
Frightened by the very words we hope to hear
Before this dream is over
We all must face our fear
In the darkest hours of evening
In the last days of the year

Like a tired and footsore pilgrim
Who dreams of simple rest
I have shed some expectations on the way
I never found the promised land
‘Though I swear I tried my best
Now I wonder if I’ll find the faith to pray
Wise men wait for miracles
The rest of us just wait
Denying that the signs are everywhere
And who would ever notice
Should a ray of hope appear
In the darkest of all moments
In the last hours of the year

The season rushes by us
We’re relieved to know it will
It’s always something less than what it seems
But for a single, silver moment
All the world stood still
Poised between our history and dreams
And if there is a lesson here
And if one wish could be
More than simply words upon a page
It’s the promise of a morning star
To light our homeward ways
In the darkness that surrounds us
At the closing of an age …
In the darkness that beguiles us
At the closing of an age