CHRISTMAS WEEK - Wednesday Before...

Montreal Snow

Yeah, there's some

not lots

and it's cold

I forgot how cold

but I'm here this week

oblivious to the world

recharging batteries

fighting an awful flu

I just saw some old family movies

for the first time

capsule moments

from the 60s

the only footage of my late mother

briefly there

smiling at the camera

young and beautiful

and then gone

cut to some airplane flying over

our backyard

and footage of my grandfather

dapper in black

smoking a cigarette

all of them at the grave

of my beloved uncle

who died too young

and who I will now visit tomorrow

he's not too far from

his sister

my mother

peace at last

from a new world

that promised so much

rewarded so little

Ralph Alfonso

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THE DUST OF PLEASANT MEMORIES

You stop to sit

on a child's swing

and

Here is winter everywhere

We walk through the dust

of pleasant memories

of carousels at the Fair

and smells and laughter

and everyone there

children running

after a summer sun

and baskets of flowers

and foods for everyone

and dancers step to

the flutes and the drums

and mandolins

and bangles and things

and tho they are gone

we shall always be there

full of hope

full of light

full of love

everywhere

ralph alfonso

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ashes to ashes

Montreal

Cote des Neiges cemetery

all quiet

and white

everyone asleep

cradled in God's arms

forever

there but for the grace of

nothing is fair

really

i think

eternity ends here

ralph alfonso

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CHRISTMAS WEEK - Tuesday Before...

It's Winter everywhere...
snow stalling airports in Europe
icicles glistening perilously from gargoyle noses
but love clears its own path
tryst for now or something far greater
enjoy it all


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WALKING THRU THE SLEEPY CITY

The blue neon signs

shed a pale light on the

snow-covered streets

that you and I are walking through

watching the little mists of

cold air float up every time

we speak

And in this wonderful place

At the top of the world

on this empty corner

we stop under a street lamp

and we hold each other tight

we kiss

But it's so cold -

so cold

our lips stick together

ralph alfonso

* memories of stockholm in snow

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SAD DAY, LONG NIGHT

Sad day, long night

Big kiss, big fight

The things we do

The things we say

Between me and you

Baby

It'll never be right

The Christmas Bells

Maybe all's well

Our cozy fire

Will always burn bright

When we kiss and make up

Christmas Night

ralph alfonso

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OK THIS IS CHRISTMAS BUT

And this is my heart and this is

my gift to you.

Yeah, well,

ok, this is Christmas, but

I'm blessed every day that

I'm with you

ralph alfonso

---------

NOEL PARTOUT

c'est Noel dans les rues

dans nos coeurs

et partout

ralph alfonso

* Noel a Paris

------------------

TOMORROW IS A CLOUD

Today is a smile

A cup of coffee

Tomorrow is a cloud

Something uncertain

Love for now

Everything else

Will have to find you

ralph alfonso

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NOEL A PARIS

CHRISTMAS WEEK - Monday Before...

This is the week for trains and buses, planes and cars... 
everyone going home or maybe leaving home

The red glow of a lunar exclipse at 3am on a deserted highway... 
deserted rest stop... 
closed restaurant... 
vending machine with one bag of chips left.....

5AM IT'S TIME TO GO

5am

the car is starting

snow is falling

it's time to go

and no matter where

the road will take you

how many towns

you will pass through

Gander, St. John's, Halifax, Moncton

the star inside you

brightly shining

always burning

to guide you to

ralph allfonso

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LITTLE ANGELS

Little angels

Spread our wings

To and fro

In fallen snow

And God will shine

His stars more bright

To guide our way

Back home tonight

1. ralph alfonso

----------------

IT'S OK, IT'S JUST A CIGARETTE

it's ok

it's just a cigarette

roll the window down

let the wind suck it all away

like everything else

i've thrown down this highway

gas station, trees

runaway girls sitting on their backpacks

that's the way it goes

like the coffee's too hot

the donut's too dry

it's ok

you're my best friend

listening to another old man

complaining about his teeth

i used to love the radio

i used to live for looking up at stars

listening to A.M. guitars

but now

my head's down to the wheel

4:am rolling out of the

parking lot

is this really my life

maybe i should've stayed in line

the next guy got lucky

it's ok

he ain't going nowhere

and they say

what you notice first

is the air

cold and pure inside your lungs

100 miles an hour

silos and farms and trucks for sale

rusting in the yard

but it's all a laugh

where are we now

does it matter?

as long as we're not where

we were

ralph alfonso

CHRISTMAS WEEK - Sunday Before...

There really is nothing more beautiful than Christmas in the snow in the country, maybe not too far and not too near the lights and clamour... just enough to be nestled away with clear night skies, fresh snow and wonderful smells from the kitchen. These days, this can sometimes be a fairy tale for many and an experience you can actually buy for others, but sometimes you get lucky and circumstance and good fortune can be the best gifts of all. 


Here are three vignettes, all based on real experiences in Montreal, Elora (Ontario), and Vancouver Island... sugary little confections best with a warm coffee before or after the mad dash into the Sunday before Christmas.


------------------------------------------

Every Star Says Hello There's a snowflake on my tongue because God has dropped the bucket and everything is going white today Are we all angels Cross our hearts and pray Spread our wings in the fallen snow Kick the powder high in the air Can everyone come out to play? In the heart of December In the soul of Montreal Here we are Arms spread out Hands raised high Is it a sin to laugh Is it a sin to kiss In the halos of orange street lights In the eternal twilight Of suddenly evening They shook out the branches and we fell in love, our hearts melting And every star says hello when you look up

© 2002, Ralph Alfonso 




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Angels Stop For Flowers In Elora (A Christmas Poem) This is the world's most perfect little country town, I'm sitting down with your family and we're all gathered round the big oak table at the back of your mother's antiques store, rosy-cheeked from the snapping flames and here is Christmas dinner with all the trimmings and a big old tree from down the road wrapped up in spangles and lights and wooden soldiers hanging on guard and all the duck decoys, old wagon wheels, every kind of dried flower, every Norman Rockwell accessory casting shadows, and sleepy carols whispered from a radio made before I was born, and that's old, baby and you can hear that winter wind howling up from Elora Gorge, having fun and kicking up the snow so we can't leave, and who would want to, anyway, and when we've all gone to bed and I'm looking up at the stars through the attic window, huddled up in this sleeping bag, with you asleep by my side, I figure if there ever was a time to be in love, it was now

© 1998, Ralph Alfonso 


Nice memories of a Christmas long past. Elora is a wonderful small town in Ontario, Canada, not far from Guelph and close to Fergus (famous Fergus market). This particular antique store is long gone. One of my favourite poems.


In December, 2003, in Columbus, Ohio, Christina Connor read this poem as part of an event called Christmas at 2Co's Cabaret. I discovered this news on the net and the review of her reading is described as "serene yet sensual".  


http://www.nakedsunfish.com/SunFish_017/main.htm


No other info on Ms. Connor can be found anywhere except for a small photo here; with news that this Cabaret company closed in 2006.


http://www.shortnorth.com/2Co'sClosing.html


Well, Christina Connor, wherever you are - thank you.




This is not the store I wrote about but hey, they're in Elora and have a video on YouTube...
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CHRISTMAS EVE, VANCOUVER ISLAND


The cat curling up against your leg
a log crackling in the fireplace,
and John Coltrane is sweet on the little
record player we got
to keep us company,
it's Christmas Eve
in Tofino and the waves are rising and crashing
in the pitch black, lit only by the
smiles of angels on their way to
touch maybe our hearts, maybe
your cynical angry heart if you're
reading this or maybe you can
throw this piece of paper away so
someone else can find it,
the big bowls of of
coffee are steaming up the windows
there's always a nice smell to good coffee
and we always talk a long time
on a night like this
and maybe it's funny or
maybe it's something
I would never have dared ever
say before, but it's always
something that makes us hug
each other more and it's
midnight, baby, the candles
are one inch away from nowhere
I'm sure I heard a sound on the roof,
yeah, you can laugh, but
why is the cat looking up there, too?


(c) Ralph Alfonso


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CHRISTMAS WEEK - Saturday Before...

Christmas In London




I always seemed to end up in London at Christmas time. Yes, I'm still mewling nostalgic on the mid-80s, the sour milk that festers melancholy like clockwork when it's pouring rain here in Vancouver, a depressing sponge of a town sometimes, and flavours the venom that seeps subtley through some of these older poems. But yes, there I was - deer in the headlights of Oxford Street - pushed along by the crowds - running into Harrods for refuge. It's easy to feel sorry for yourself with a cucumber sandwhich in hand, stirring tea, and silver angels floating overhead, trumpets at the ready, blaring to one and all, "how did you blow this one?" But, listening to relationship advice from holiday ornaments is not on my list of to-do's today.


ralph alfonso







---------------------


CHRISTMAS IN COVENT GARDEN


I was lost on Oxford St.
caught in the crush of the
Harrod's crowds, pushing me
through the hurrying mass
scarved and bundled,
The late afternoon twilight
awash in a green and red glow from
the Christmas windows
And suddenly there I was
at Tottenham Tube Station
and I walked up to the little
chip shop and I guess that
was dinner and I stumbled
down Charing Cross Road
and into Foyles, fumbling
through their labyrinth of
books and then
somehow onto the narrow
Covent Garden streets
and the Christmas Market
wooden agels rattling together
tourists with loud voices
pointing at things
I stopped to watch a little music box
two tiny skaters
a Strauss waltz
and then I nursed a little take-away
coffee, sitting on one of the
little benches, and up in the dark
of a London night, I saw
there was solitude in the moment
and I knew someone was there
for one quiet prayer


ralph alfonso

CHRISTMAS WEEK - Friday Before....

As we approach Christmas 2010, here are some daily holiday thoughts collated together from various disparate sources, some of which originally appeared on my http://www.Myspace.com/ralphalfonso/blog and some from my two books. The MySpace blog contains some wonderful experiments but there is no search mechanism and scrolling back through past posts is very cumbersome so I'm assembling most of my Christmas canon (I know) here.




C'EST JOLIE NOEL - CHRISTMAS IS NICE

c'est jolie Noel
et te baiser
si belle
s'il y a un Dieu dans ma vie
c'est grace a toi ici

et c'est neige et soleil
le matin quand je me reveille
ce fut toujours comme ca
quand c'est toi qui est la

this is our very first Noel
we woke to see the
snow that fell
and Sunday choirs
Christmas bells
I'm grateful for these
winter sounds and
laughter, kindness
with you around


ralph alfonso
*hear the song on the Ralph CD, "Sophisticated Boom Boom"
http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?playlistId=4959703&s=143455&i=4959685

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One Last Montreal Poem In December

one last Montreal poem in December
one last cigarette (from November)
one last coffee resting beside some toast
quiet little diner
seat in the corner
paper's missing the sports section
but there's a good view of the snow
and the christmas lights
and the black spiraling staircases
every house has got one
and who doesn't love
December
in Montreal

ralph alfonso


-----------------------------------

BEAT FOR THE HOLIDAYS


the fireplace
warm
and you and i
together

maybe there's snow
or maybe not

flames on the candles
melting wax

night time
stars are out
and
scratchy records
(real music will never wear out)

drink hot coffee
from a bottomless cup

it's nothing
but it's everything
if it makes you smile



ralph alfonso