the feline leer a snarl
so far from advent happiness
and joy of Cheshire cats
they mock us like a mad hatter
of injustice
I see them begging on the street
Roma people from Romania
free from 500 years of slavery
but still enslaved by being poor
they come and fill the street
where the first snow melts
in their empty cups
which white rabbit led them here
to our wonderland?
where we give them room
in our freezing streets
and we buy Christmas gifts
that no-one really needs
to show how much we care
Picture from Wikimedia Commons
—
Today at dVerse we are writing about Alice and wonderland and a little advent.. I was downtown today and saw more beggars than I have ever seen before. Pub opens at 3 PM EST.
—
December 7, 2013
Björn Rudbergs writings 
what a great zinger of a closing stanza
Bjorn, you have shown another face of advent here, perhaps the underside not commonly acknowledged.
There is indeed a great contrast in our Western world between the presents we don’t need and all the money spent for Christmas while there are so many poor and homeless around us.
Truth. It isn’t always pleasant.
Isn’t that true… How much we’ve corrupted Xmas with all the shopping and showing off. Well said.
Eliz
still enslaved to being poor…so true..out of one slavery and into another…and true as well on our own materialism in teh face of others who have so much less than us….
ugh yes… we should rather care for them who really need our help… christmas time always shows our uneven the scale is balanced
That final stanza just sums it up perfectly. Well said, Bjorn.
Reality smacks this Christmas season ~ We see hungry and homeless people in the streets while we shop for gifts we don’t really need ~ Good one Bjorn ~
I’m appearing in a Christmas play presently, JOY TO THE WORLD, playing a crusty bad Santa. One of the characters, pregnant & Christian, takes to her house a homeless man, who assaults her & robs her, and it brings to mind, as does your poem, that Christmas is also about pain, injustice, & inequity; that the real heart of the holidays is both dark & light, like our human souls.
I like it …
Cuts like winter wind.
Grim reality of Wonderland. Wonderful for whom?
‘which white rabbit lead them there?’ is the line that sums it all up
Oh, the irony of this poem: – the displaced in contrast to those of comfortable circumstances.
I know you are writing in a 2nd language, so I hope you won’t mind me pointing out in the 4th stanza: Lead, being the present tense should be which white rabbit LEADS?. But I think the past tense works better in the context, and this is LED. Please edit out this bit of the comment!
I’m so happy for comments on improvements… the verb forms is my most common error.. Swedish has no different forms.. so it’s always difficult for me…
Advent on the street’s not so ho, ho, ho! Great comeback!
The Christmas celebration of today is certainly a failure. Christ is mocked, and the love shown is false. Christ taught, mercy is what he wants, not sacrifice. And, by the way, I think it is timely to point this out in the community of dVerse.
Absolutely Amazing…And spot on! Remarkably written Bjorn 🙂
Bjorn this is so beautiful a poem. I love the imagery, the intensity and feeling you convey. Excellent
Yes,this is the real Christmas message. Well expressed. Providing room on the freezing street is sort of like sending a heavily pregnant woman to give birth in a filthy stable.As everyone has said excellent poem.
Bjorn – very moving and strong statement of the reality of our world – always brings us up short when reminded of the real needs of our neighbors – beautiful – K
Gritty, gutsy, profound and poignant!
Out where I live in the leafy suburbs – we have no beggars. There are the homeless in our main City, those that most don’t give a second thought to on Christmas Day …or any day – very provoking write
Powerful spotlight on a truth many either sublimate or try to assuage by serving in kitchens for the homeless once or twice a year. Great work!
Realities in life brought out in the open. One can’t help noting that rich countries are grappling with global entrapment citizens of poor countries struggle to get out of local inequalities. Great one Bjorn!
Hank
Ah, the white rabbit of materialism leading us all astray… I happen to come from Romania, Bjorn, and have sometimes seen people turn away from me, as they obviously think that everyone from there is roma and therefore out to get them. Painful subject, therefore…
Whole of Europe have issues on Roma.. I was so surprised that I heard that they had been slaves until 1860 .. it makes me think that maybe Europe should treat the issues similar as with African Americans … recently in Sweden it turned out that the Swedish police had secret registers on Roma people .. just based on relationship with a few criminal people,,,,
Bjorn, written with a sharp pen of sad reality..hope some will remember
the homeless living in the streets of despair…
Love that your] brought the Cheschire Cat into your poem..always stood out for me in the story…first you see him, then you don’t 😉 Great title and write.
Poignant, Bjorn. Christmas has become more material & less spiritual … while some people go hungry … yet such a waste of useless gifts. Well said.
maybe all our lives are a bit like Alice
I always forget about that cat ugh! I enjoyed reading here.
Well might we be mocked as Cheshire cat sees the limits of a wonderland that could allow the Roma to freeze. I believe conservatives want the poor to simply disappear, to outlaw an altruism which cares.
Such an intense and deep poem, it took me into the depth of the words.
we need a different economic model. something which does not value win:lose transactions. not sure how to ‘give’ that for christmas. what does the better pattern look like. perhaps fairtrade?
Gritty…someone wrote above. Great word for your writing here. The truth for many…harsh but realistic view. We do live in a curious and strange world.