Christmas Poetry

For a variety of reasons I have not really gotten into the Christmas spirit.  What better way to do so then poetry?  In case you are in the same boat, I thought I would offer some.  By way of New Directions Publishing comes this Christmas poem:

I Have Lighted the Candles, Mary

I have lighted the candles, Mary…
How softly breathes your little Son

My wife has spread the table
With our best cloth. There are apples,
Bright as red clocks, upon the mantel.
The snow is a weary face at the window.
How sweetly does He sleep

“Into this bitter world, O Terrible Huntsman!”
I say, and she takes my hand—“Hush,
You will wake Him.”

© 1942 Kenneth Patchen

From Christmas Poems (New Directions Books)