We Are Together

We Are Together 
By Douglas Karson

We are together
In this unique time
We think of family and friends
Good times we spend
Warmth and whiskey around a fire
Excited children tearing paper
Carols and cuddles
Feasts and loosened trousers
Lights

We are together
In this special time
Despite distance our heart’s existence
Does not depend on time 
Nor space
Love resides in a different place
It is there we share
Our holiday cheer

We are together 
In our pursuits and our connections 
Our hopes and our dreams
Our fears and our nightmares
Our homes and our communities 
Perhaps now more than ever

We are together
Linked to one another
The spider’s web we built has caught us
Lockdown lost control and goodness knows,
My house 
Has never been 
So tidy.
Yet
We are together
Sharing this darkness
Beacons as cold deepens
Hope knows,
It will be light again.
Warmth will return.

We wait together.
Watching the world change
Feeling powerless in the face of mother nature
Appreciating all the mothers
And grandmothers
The fathers
Sisters 
Brothers 
Those we wish to give comfort
Those we’ve missed so painfully
We remind you
We are together

A face on a screen not the same thing
We need hugs
So we shrug and say
Next year
Next year will be better
Next year will be full of hope
Optimism keeps us going.
That and knowing
We are together

In this joyous season we count our blessings
We hold those near us tighter
We say thank you louder
We feast heartier 
Sit smugly by the fire
Cosy and content
With memories of laughter and light
Firm in our conviction
We are together

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