FOR THE TWELFTH NIGHT

Sing softly the cherries,
Red, red, sweet and good;
Sing apples and oranges,
The cinnamon food.

Dance swiftly the cider,
Spin more than you should;
For liquor and laughter
Will lighten your load.

Declaim the roast turkey
And riddle the sauce;
Potatoes are stories
Of fortune and loss.

Pipe merrily carrots,
Drum beets till they bleed;
They root down to darkness
Who started as seed.

Oh, candy the greetings
You give to your guests;
The wassil is fleeting
And life ends in death.

So taffy your handshake
And ginger the kiss;
Bake huggings like muffins,
A brave eucharist.

Be feast for our Christmas
And I’ll be the food;
Beg Christ to assist us,
In everything good.

-Walter Wangerin, Jr. d. 2021