[Newspoetry] Monster Day

[John Wason]

At 06:31 PM 12/24/2001 -0600, Robert Porter wrote:

>Greetings all--
>
>    Tomorrow is day that means more to some of us than others.  It's the
>anniversary of the Christian Savior's birth (speculatively), or it's an
>ancient Pagan Solstice coopted by younger religions, or it's an excuse to
>get together with increasingly attenuated families, or it's just a big
>bummer in the most light-deprived part of the year.  Whatever it is, in this
>country it's impossible to ignore, even if it isn't part of your belief
>system.
>
>    For me, it's mostly a paid day off, after what is always a stressful
>month for those of us who work in the world of retail.  But I admit to some
>vestigial sentimentality.  If nothing else, a holiday which is celebrated
>with light, food and warmth seems eminently sensible at a time when all
>these things are in short supply.  It's sort of like standing next to a
>roaring fire after being outside in the freezing cold.
>
>    Now I've certainly had my share of crappy Christmases.  In fact, I'd
>have to say that the number of genuinely "merry" Christmases I've had since
>I became an adult is vanishingly small.  One feels such pressure to feel
>good this time of year that anything less than utter joy is a source of
>guilt and disappointment.  It can be a desperately unhappy time.
>
>     That said, I can still think of one reason why I kinda like Christmas.
>One of the central messages of this holiday is the hope of peace and good
>will.  It gets buried under a mountain of consumer come-ons (when did we
>decide that this was supposed to be a celebration of capitalism?), but it's
>still there, if only faintly.  Peace and good will aren't easy goals, in
>fact they're difficult as hell, but there are still some of us who think
>they're worth working toward.
>
>    That's where Newspoetry comes in.  Everybody who takes the time to write
>a newspoem is adding to a reservoir of hope for something better.  Even the
>frequently angry and frustrated messages that appear on the site are a
>statement of the belief that this world is improvable.  Why be angry with
>the status quo unless you feel things could be better?  Why write a newspoem
>unless you feel that your vision is worth sharing?  I continue to be amazed
>that so many of us contribute to the list so regularly, despite the lack of
>material reward for doing so.
>
>    This becoming quite the epic, considering that I had intended to just
>shoot off a few quick lines.  The point I'm trying to get at here is that
>I'm feeling very warm and fuzzy about all you newspoets out there, both the
>ones I know personally and the one I've never met.  You're all aces in my
>book, and whether Christmas means anything to you or not, I want to send out
>my good will to you all. Wherever you are, whatever you're doing, I hope
>you're well and warm.
>
>                                -- Bob Porter


Thank you, Bob.  This was very thoughtful and well-expressed, and it made my
own empty Christmas just a tiny bit happier.

Now if only those of us who are not spending Christmas with "light, food,
and warmth" - most of all the warmth of boon companions - could figure out a
way to get together and make the day a little warmer in a symbiotic
fashion.....Is that too much to hope for?  Maybe next year, huh?

John