Poet's Showcase: Christmas Casserole / LJWorld.com

My casserole, laden with potatoes and cheese,

Stuffed full of donated venison,

Joins the others this Christmas morning

Laid out on the covered table beside the sweet rolls.

(I hope they like mine best),

My competitive spirit alive and well

Instead the Homeless Shelter surprises me.

My daughter’s elbow, sharp and relentless,

Digs into my side — a swift rolling of her eyes

In the direction of a cockroach scurrying by.

Suddenly distracted, smiles from a toothless face

Show the light from within

Revealing not just who this man had been

But where he’s headed.

“Thank you, this is the only meal I’ll have today.”

“Grandpa” from Alaska weaves his charm

Singing us a blessing in his native tongue.

“I love you,” he says.

“I love you too,” says my little girl.

“God loves you even more than I do,” says he.

An endless game enjoyed this Christmas morn

Our family extends right now

To include them all.

Just how lucky can we be?

— Ronda Miller lives in Lawrence.

Ronda Miller 5 years, 2 months ago

The cockroach lives on.....along with its children, grand children, great grandchildren. You get the picture....:) We learned not to lean on the counter while serving....sometimes it is a friendly ant or two instead of the cockroach.....I actually wrote that poem two years ago....The year my niece died we didn't feel much like celebrating Christmas, or any thing for that matter. We decided to volunteer at the Shelter on Christmas morning and make a casserole to take along. My son and daughter grudgingly got out of bed much too early on a Christmas day and went with me....it is the best Christmas I can remember ever having....and I think they will cherish the memory more the older they get.Sometimes our darkest nights illuminate our brightest tomorrows.......Share the joy...share the grief....share from the heart....everything you have...(and you just happen to have a lot to share, multi, and do it so well. :)