Poem by John Kelly
Any room?
Mind you, it’s not at all we mind your coming –
it’s just that we’ve so many things to do:
the cleaning, cooking, shopping, present-wrapping,
and Santa’s list needs more attention, too. . .
It’s really such a nice time, isn’t it,
when Bing is everywhere on tap to let us know
the whole world’s washed in gently falling snow,
and canned lullabies hush lamb and lion to sleep. . .
The inn is gone, the little stable, too. . .
In all the rush, the crib’s still housed
from last year in the cupboard . . . I wonder
if in all our frantic preparations –
beneath the toys, the tinsel, fairy lights
and all the other trinkets, decorations –
there’s still within our hearts
and in our whole wide world,
in all we plan and do,
even just a minute’s time for you?
John Kelly is an Adelaide teacher whose third collection of poems A Schoolbag Full was released in 2021.