December 20

Christmas Tankas

Jacob Marley was
dead as a door nail – passed on
seven years before
yet he came and visited
to give Scrooge a second chance.

The Ghost of Christmas
Past came to show memories –
painful and happy
to Scrooge to re-live, re-learn
to preserve the happiness.

The Ghost of Christmas
Present showed Scrooge life as it
was happening then
and to give him a message
of the brevity of life.

The Ghost of Christmas
Yet to Come presented Scrooge
his mortality
and the gravest of the truths:
when you’re dead it is too late.

Ebenezer Scrooge
was once a cold-hearted man –
a selfish miser
until four ghosts visited;
now the old man is buried.