The Poet's Touch |
| There behind St. Peter's Abbey rests a small cemetery where families gather in flickered darkness and stand in silence beside grave sites of deceased relatives. Small Christmas trees with burning tapers adorn the graves and cast shadows upon solemn faces. Evergreen berry wreaths with reflective votives adorn ornate crosses and gilded vaults. Enveloped in the solemnity of this gathering, we steady against a small chapel door for shelter from the falling snow. For one solemn hour, strains of Christmas music sound from the monastery high in the cliffs above the cemetery. A faint drone is audible; voices hum with the music, no lyrics ... only low soft tones embrace echoes flowing from the monastery. We join in this prayerful sound while elderly and young smile through tears as they present this holy Christmas gift to their remembered families. A beautiful gift, indeed. When the hour ends we remain until the cemetery is deserted. Only small fading candles remain. We listen to joyful expressions mixed with laughter as the crowd journeys toward home for Christmas Eve celebrations. We stand with our children and grandchildren as the dark, cold night truly is Oh Silent ... Holy Night! |
| Rita Goodgame has won an Arkansas Writer's Grand Conference Literary Award, prose/poetry first place awards in ByLine Magazine and The National League of American Pen Women, Pioneer Branch. Her work has also appeared in publications such as Women's World, Grandmother Earth, Soiree, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, The Bulletin, International Old Lacers, Inc., and Our Arkansas ... Special Places, '09. |
| A Salzburg Christmas Eve by Rita Goodgame |
Copyright © 2009 Rita Goodgame. All rights reserved.
Photo Copyright © 2009 Rita Goodgame. All rights reserved.
