Gingerbread Duck

Christmas gingerbread cookies
in festive shapes to bake,
A special love-gift offering
for our Church family to take.

Decorated with coloured icing,
flowers and silver balls,
A gift for those of all ages
that will childhood memories recall.

A basket is lined
with a cloth of white,
When filled with the cookies
it’s a colourful sight.

The smell of the gingerbread
soon fills the warm air,
On this Christmas morn
and it creates quite a stir.

All are invited
to the Altar rail,
For Communion, or a Blessing
themselves to avail.

Then to pick up a cookie
as they return to their seat,
And choosing the right one
is no mean feat.

A bell, an angel, or a dove
I wonder, what will it be?
Santa, reindeer, or maybe a star,
perhaps a gingerbread Christmas tree.

An old man walks slowly
back down the aisle,
In his eyes such a sparkle
on his lips plays a smile.

He gazes in wonder
into his open cupped hands,
Has that gingerbread duck
some distant memory fanned?

Christmas is a time to remind
all men and women of the child inside,
To rekindle fond memories and
create a place where love will abide.