On The Silly Side by Jimmy Del Ponte

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An old plastic Santa that’s been taped and repaired

A small plastic lamb, with one leg that’s not there

A few plug in candles that my Dad bought at Sears

Are some family Christmas ornaments, that we’ve had for years

Macaroni wreaths, silver spray painted art

A cotton ball snowman that is falling apart

A paper Mache elf, who has two mismatched ears

We made them in grade school, and they’ve lasted for years

a drummer boy, and a wise man, both  yellowed by time

On the back of a star it says 1959!

Ring tops strung together from cans of Pabst, and Schlitz beers

Treasured decorations that have survived many  years

A camel, an angel, Santa’s sleigh on a string

There’s even one of Elvis, a different kind of king

Family heirlooms that have brought so much holiday  cheer

We’ve loved all of these ornaments, year after year

We saved Christmas cards one year, when re-cycling was new

We made calendars from them,  and we still have a few

On the bottom of a reindeer some words still appear

It’s says “Merry Christmas Mommy,” ‘63 was the year

Some are cracked, some are chipped, some are falling apart

but each one has a memory that’s close to the heart

we used  crayons and glitter, Elmer’s glue, and pinking shears

Like familiar old friends, bringing smiles through the years

There’s some made by Joey, and some made by Chris

Their art work remains, it’s their laughter we miss

We’ll cherish  the ornaments, like we do  every year

as we wish that our loved ones, could also be here