Counting down the days to Christmas

                                                ( a prison window of consumerism)

It's a wonderful time of the year
for  many  now trapped and living in fear
caught by a malicious system
drowning in debt,facing struggle alone,
benefits cut, holding on as best they can
spending many days with heads in hands,
hearts aching, tears rolling down cheeks
counting down the days to Christmas.

Have you seen the alternative news
that exposes this conscious cruelty?
Government robbing people of self respect
left in sullen days of  abandonment,
people with no heating, sitting around freezing,
listening to reality blues, life in gloom
trying to fight, pick up the pieces
counting down the days to Christmas.

Its difficult to find any hope
or feel the presence of any holy spirit,
in this season when things fall apart
people caught up in war zones,
refugees fleeing for their lives
lovers slowly dying of terminal disease,
refusing to surrender, releasing resistance
counting down the days to  Christmas.

I can't handle another bloody Christmas song
my will is already being pinched and broken,
by adverts spreading the disease of capitalism
tinsel,glitter and fairy lights masking crisis,
at a time of the year many now come to dread
too difficult to contemplate, let alone celebrate;
scrambling our way through the fog
counting down the days to Christmas.

A time for peace,goodwill and generosity
but the world's stage makes this  difficult,
leaving many facing sleepless nights
long drawn out days of thrift,
so try not to forget,the cheated, the old
the poor and the sick, the weak
cast aside, forced to tighten their belts
counting down the days to Christmas.

https://iamnotasilentpoet.wordpress.com/2016/12/16/counting-down-the-days-to-christmas-by-dave-rendle/