Christmas Angels
Gather near in sacred anthem.
Light the night ‘neath His star.
Photo credit: Flickr/Jacinta Iluch Valero
Linger. Silent. Near His manger.
Calm men’s heart aches.
Sigh.
Arise!
To all the Christmas angels, messengers of song, light, hope–thank you!
…Who are those angel-messengers?..Our Poetry Friday community of poets, for sure–all year round! God bless you for your ministry of life-bolstering, as well as life-altering, vivifying words.
Back story, not necessary to read on Christmas Day:
Throughout Advent, I couldn’t resist “squeezing” a myriad of traditional Christmas images and symbols into individually Squeezed Poems.
Unfortunately, the only one that actually worked–of sorts–was the “Christmas Angels,” which I am actually quite pleased with–even if I’ve “poetically licensed,” in part, the “Squeezed Poem” format:)
First, here’s how I was twice true to the format. Every word in the “Christmas Angels” poem consists solely of letters found in the title/target-words. And, as far as I know or consciously intended, no word in the poem consists of more instances of each letter than are found in the target-words. …”Squeezed poem”…Yes! ..So far, so good.
Here’s where conformity ends and poetic license begins….Rather than having the words “fall” vertically on to discrete lines so that no letter is used more times on one line than matches the number of times the letter appears in the target word being squeezed, I distributed the squeezed words horizontally, creating more conventional verses.
If what I have done precludes positioning the “finished” product as a “Squeezed Poem,” albeit “Modified,” then I am happy to think of some new format name, and welcome your suggestions.
(I definitely do not want to indulge in false advertising–even in poetic form name calling, especially not in connection with Christmas:))
GOD BLESS YOU!
(Whether you celebrate or not, Love became Flesh for YOU today!)
…MERRY CHRISTMAS!!
cbhanek 
I like the line ‘calm men’s heartache.’ It speaks to me very closely. Merry Christmas! I
Merry Mercy Christmas! Thank you for honoring me by including the reading of “Christmas Angels” in your Christmas celebration. I appreciate your sharing about the line that especially spoke to you. The amazing thing to me about this poem is that I never in a million years would have thought to write the words therein, except that they all come from the words “Christmas Angels,” and so I like to think that the Christmas Angels squeezed themselves into those words…some of which I don’t even understand why they’re there or what they mean. Especially the last two….May the Christ Child fill your heart with His boundless love! God bless you on this Christmas and always! Enjoy His Presence!
But such is inspiration….words tumble out of us and there lies the message. I love poetry because it surprises me with its meaning despite having written the words down.
God Bless you too! 🙂
There you go again! Being so wise, so philosophical, so attuned to the Truth, which you simplify when you write them for all to see. Yes! I, too, love being surprised. I love a sense of the unknown that beckons to be known more. You are so spiritually gifted. The world is better for having you! Thank you for sharing what you have been given to understand, whether dimly or in full light. God bless you! And thank you for your benediction, which I very much value!
“Linger. Silent.” is such a necessary thing. God bless you! Celebrating today!
Thank you for including the “Christmas Angels” in your celebration. Special thanks, too, for sharing your reflection. Sometimes I think I linger too long in nostalgia. But the kind of silent lingering you’re advocating: agreed; it is a very necessary thing. Enjoy your blessed celebrating!
Wow, the squeezed poem is quite a challenge, isn’t it?! YOU are a Christmas angel. Thank you for sharing your poetry with us — and for all your lovely “kindness” comments. Merry Christmas to you!
🙂 God bless you! Thank you for taking time, midst hostessing, to read and to share such affirming comments! Poetry neophyte wannabee that I am, I feel very blessed to have been accepted by gracious members like you into the Poetry Friday community, despite having no poetry publication credits. Your Kindness posts were the perfect Christmas Eve Day reflections! Enjoy the day with your family:)
So glad you joined us in 2015! All the best in the coming year!