The Advent of Winter

The wisteria leaves have gone a vivid yellow now, as we pass from autumn into meteorological winter on this first day of December and - unusually - also the first Sunday of Advent, which isn’t necessarily on 1st December but always falls on the fourth Sunday before Christmas, whatever date that is.

At family communion in church, the Rector’s talk started off discussing advent calendars and their modern-day contents - including chocolates and even expensive daily gifts of such things as perfume. When it transpired that one member of our choir had a whisky sample behind each window of her advent calendar, the Rector sincerely hoped she hadn’t already opened it and downed the contents at breakfast!

This poem is for anyone who opened an advent calendar this morning.

‘The Good Old Days’

Pity the poor children
of today, with their calendars
stuffed with chocolates,

never to know the thrill
of opening a small cardboard door
and discovering behind it

a picture of a bell.

Brian Bilston