On the L and In the X

..it runs from uhtceare (sadness before dawn) to curtain lecture (a telling off given by your spouse in bed). It's out all over the world and you can... Whilst we all revel in our wintery wonderland, ice-skating, lighting log fires, and catching pneumonia, spare a thought for the poor... Their Christmas is spent overrun...between dangling corks...    [M.H. Forsyth, Inky Fool]

Back o'er the waves to Ireland's holy shore;

     Close nestled in her bosom, each wild lay

   Mixed with her sighs--'twas from her deep heart's core

     She called thee: "'Gille Machree'[7] come home, I pray--

   In my green lap of shamrocks sleep, asthore!"  ~ ROSE KAVANAGH, Donahoe’s XV, Feb.1886

  "Never forget

   Little Queen Pet,

   Who was kind to all

   The poor people she met!"   ~ ROSA MULHOLLAND, Donahoe’s XV, Feb. 1886

     ...and urge the patronage of that holy three: Patrick, Bridget and Columcille...

And

ten things that went boom in the night

{not labeled X-...} and the inalienable right

to identify--such a contentious debate that

eccentric folk rightly feign a specious concordat

{or not}. 

And

anteriorly toasted red turkey balls fraught

with pasty rice, sticky panda glue wrap, stand

crunched, ground, pied and stuffed in glass.

It’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas

but who’s keeping score?

And

the boys on the ‘el’ screaming and scrolling

{for ESPN} and buddies seizing and trolling

{on the gaming channel...} heading home

for the holidays-that is.  Elmer’s {on the corner} menu tome

is smeared red, green and white for happy hour.

And

when we tripped over the crèche

The nun in black-and-white--who knew?---grabbed her cache,

smiled, picked up the pieces then

put them back together; so at Christ’s Church Mass

tonight I’ll try to remember the day of December

And

a lecture of introduction to the Manger in the play

in the corner near the font {the very same, they say,

where I was dunked on St. Christen’s day} given by

O’Donahoe in the role of Joseph, and Annie Hilliards

as Mary.  Everyone knows the ‘O’ plays best at billiards.

And

when that heilige Eve all star struck covers all in sleep

I’ll watch and rock His tiny bed next to tired sheep

while pondering strange red, green, and blue

bobbling orbs dancing on the fireplace as bubbles through

to Christmas morn.   (c)12/23/13