How to unwrap God’s Gifts on Christmas Morning
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Heal wounds.
Soak Earth with sunshine.
Breathe hope into sorrows
And pace the
Long and gentle
Unwinding of the clocks.
Don’t point and counter
Or fence the tides of
Wild creation into doctrine.
Care for each other,
Instead of playing endlessly
With the box.
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∗∗∗ Lona Gynt, August 2018 ∗∗∗
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If you think August is too soon to be thinking about Christmas, you can thank De Jackson (WhimsyGizmo) who gave us a prompt over at dVerse for a Quadrille that uses the word “box.” Link on over to see the whole box set of Quadrille’s from dVerse poets. 🙂
You can link here:
Quadrille #62 – Thinkin’ Inside the Box
Recited at Out Loud Huntsville, Open Mic Night 12-22-19. This is what I wore 🙂
All rights reserved by Lona Gynt, August 2018.
Scattered thoughts made a little more random 
Lona, your words, verse are a rivulet, flowing beautifullly—- each a smooth pebble touched by your hands.
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Thank you Lance, that beautiful description means a lot to me, especially in that I have been very moved by finding your stunning poem this evening. Cheers!
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You’re so very welcome, Lona! And, thank you!
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Good advice: “fence the tides of
Wild creation into doctrine”
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Thanks Frank, we do have a tendency to do that sometimes, don’t we? Always glad for you to read.
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This is quite simply gorgeous. Important advice here, too.
Love this, especially:
“pace the
Long and gentle
Unwinding of the clocks.”
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Thank you De. I am so glad that passage stood out for you. It is at the heart of the reconciliations I hope are reflected in my poem. The feeling that unlimited love can unwind the burdens of time. Your prompt opened this right up for me. Thank You.
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My pleasure, Lona. And reading your poem was a real pleasure, as well.
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I love the flow and the message of your poem, so nicely done. And no, it’s not too early to think Christmas. I do need to think cool thoughts in thi heat😊
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Wafting a little icicle breeze in Pat’s direction… ahh now isn’t that better? ❄️ ⛄️ . Thanks for the kind words, maybe there will be a willow or a jukebox under your tree this year.
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LoL😊
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Why do we have such a hard time with loving our neighbor as ourself? It can’t just be that our neighbor votes tea party and has bad breath, or the whole Pandora’s box of a distraction of the question, “But who, really, is my neighbor?” I think it must be something deeper and simpler at once. We just don’t love ourself. Wouldn’t that be a wonderful gift to present to God on Christmas morning? The gift of the joyously obeyed greatest commandment of loving God, our neighbor, and ourself, and given openly, no box needed (much to the dismay of the children, who by the way, disagree with you about endlessly fiddling with the box, literally speaking.) But yes, the distraction, shiny paper, ribbons and bows and demarcations and denominations and layer upon layer of interpretation and justification all need to go. Soak me in some sunshine, Hallelujah, Christ is born today!
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Once again, you always get to the heart of what I write, thank you. I had even spent a good bit of time whether I would use the phrase “fiddling with the box” but went with the “playing with the box” because I have always been bemused by the kids having so much fun with the box rather than the actual intended gift at Christmas. I think we have a hard time learning to love our neighbor because I think that is the main purpose of why God allows us to be here – to learn to love one another. If it were easy, I guess it wouldn’t be worth it, it perhaps wouldn’t even necessarily be love. Being so hard, we mess it up again and again. Loving oneself is key, to see one’s self as God sees us, the vast potential, the worth that did not count the cost – we must be pretty amazing. Boxes can be a delivery system, but they are not the true gift. Hallelujah indeed! Once again, yo made my day, I hope things are settling for you. My brother read your comment and also said he was very grateful for it, thought I would pass that along! 🙂 (ok, now I will see if I can actually find the right button to press to actually deliver this, hehe).
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I love the “and pace the long and gentle unwinding of the clocks.” What a gorgeous line!
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Thank you so very much Linda. ☺️
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thinkin’ outside the box with this Christmas cracker of a poem – also suggests people stuck in their own xbox world
these lines really ring out: “And pace the
Long and gentle
Unwinding of the clocks.”
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yes, also to be engaged too much in virtual reality games rather than engaging with real life real humans limits us as well – (says Lona – the girl who is a resident of Second Life – Stuck in her own cocoon, hehe)… But I will say that my Second Life exploits have been focused really on engagement with other real life people, much like my interactions here on dVerse. Always a pleasure Laura, thank you – and I am especially glad that the “unwinding of the clocks” stood out for you.
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A precious poem!!
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Thank you so much 😊
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Opening lines are gorgeously uplifting….there is much care and love in that. Thanks for the lovely reminder. Have a good weekend.
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I appreciate that Grace, You also have a lovely weekend 🙂
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Lona, your work is truly unique and magnificently penned!
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Thank you Lance. Helps my day shine to hear that from you.
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Lona, my sincere pleasure.
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