Christmas Time

It’s Christmas time, the gifts are wrapped
And piled beneath the tree
Yet every year there’s an absence
That is only felt by me.

I prepare the table for the feast
And bow my head in prayer
I try best to hide my grief
For the child that is not there.

We raise our glasses for a toast
To family and to friends
But all that I am wishing for
Is to hold you once again.

So amidst the Christmas joy
Is an emptiness I bear
An ever present heartache
For the child that is not there

And when I see children laugh
With that twinkle in their eyes
I cannot help but wonder
If you think of me sometimes

And when the day comes to an end
No grief can quite compare
To another Christmas yearning
For the child that is not there.

by Linda J Schiltt