A poem for Christmas

The city clocks declare it’s time to close all shops,

swap the treadmill for The Wizard of Oz,

drop the heavy load

and follow the Wise Men

‘It’s all bags’ says street trader as Christmas wrapping paper sales collapse

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Help wanted: a holiday roster that everyone can live with

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Beware the ghost of Christmases past: Nostalgia can be oppressive

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Ciarán Hancock’s Christmas Business Quiz

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who’ve been a long time coming.

The talk on the street, chitchat and argument,

is the talk of multiple tongues:

Russian, Portuguese,

the patois of a Nigerian village.

It’s as if the street itself is hoarding new languages.

But look! We live in a time

when some among us must ask themselves

On which side of the river shall I sleep tonight?

In the well-lit district, the darker alleys –

in the centre or out on the margins.

Gerard Smyth's recent collections are A Song of Elsewhere (Dedalus Press ) and The Yellow River (with artwork by Seán McSweeney, Solstice Arts Centre ). He is Poetry Editor of The Irish Times