Letter to a Cosmic Santa

by Carol Flake Chapman

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Dear Santa of the Cosmos,

We yearn for so much

Here on earth on the darkest days

Our lists grow longer

As the days grow shorter

And we chop down trees

To bring the fragrance

Of the woods into our houses

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Some of us want peace

Some of us just want money

Some of us want pills to relieve pain

Some of us want a new president

Some of us want a new country

Some of us want a fresh start

Some of us wish you could bring

Back our loved ones who are gone

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Maybe it’s asking too much, Santa

As we tend to be greedy or needy

This time of year, but who else

Can we turn to when so much

Seems to have gone wrong

When nothing short of a miracle

Could put things right, could touch

Hearts frozen or turned to stone

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Some of us would welcome you

As we would welcome any stranger

Who comes bearing gifts

Some of us would shoot you down

From the sky as an intruder

And turn you into a trophy

Some of us would make you a saint

Some of us would call you a devil

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The truth is that we are most open

Now when we are longing most

For gifts that are beyond our grasp

And feeling our losses the hardest

When we are supposed to be

Full of good cheer and empty

Of ill will and yet we are sad

And so we await your arrival