SLAM!

"Christmas Eve at Trenton Psych" 

I remember how cold it was -
the kind of bitter cold you feel
deep down in the very marrow
of your soul - that no amount
of layering can resist.

I remember rushing inside,
hoping the warmth from the car
would last until we got inside.
It did not.

I remember Patrick meeting us,
leading us into the dining hall
now transformed into a chapel,
with pine branches and candles
haphazardly strewn around tables
covered with tinsel and candy canes.

I remember the congregation
shuffling in, heads down,
some muttering, others crying
wearing cotton pajamas and robes
and cheap cardboard slippers.

And then I remember the minister,
my friend - Kirsten,
coming into the room
gently touching a few shoulders
as she passed, smiling,
as if she'd rather be here
than anywhere else in the world
on this holiest of nights.
We sang some Carols,
some to a tune only known to them
with different words than were printed
in the tattered songbooks
And then a few of them
began to cry as she told
the simple, gentle story
of the birth of a baby,
a child of Hope,
born in a stable
who came to love, seek,
and save the lost -

and I remember at last
taking the hand
of the woman next to me
and singing "Joy to the World"
with a choir of angels
all around me.


Sophy wishes WDC Happy 25th!