Every year, I write a poem for Christmas, and include it in my Christmas cards to friends and family. For the days leading up to Christmas, I’m publishing all of my Christmas poems here, as a kind of Advent calendar.

Today’s poem was written in 1994, when I was a sophomore in college. I remember being especially proud of the reference to the 1914 Christmas Truce. 

Christmas is a wondrous season
A glorious time of year
When lights and snowflakes fill our eyes
And carols fill our ears

A peculiar day is Christmas
A day to celebrate our life
As distant families reunite
And old foes cease their strife

Christmas is a feeling
Of love and utter joy
It’s a feeling that lives in all of us
From the time we’re girls and boys

So on this day of Christmas
And throughout these happy weeks
I wish for you this joyful feeling
And all the gifts you seek