What if Groundhog Day

replaced Christmas
as a winter festival ?

If Christ was succeeded
by a sardonic weatherman,
and the Virgin Mary
by a 90’s romcom stalwart ?

The groundhog;
prolonging winter
through a fear of it’s own shadow,
would cut a sombre figure
as a festive beast.

and TV schedules
would abandon their rich
vistas of programming,
for an endless cycle of repeats and reruns.
Oh, ok.

What if our faith
had just two tenets ?
to constantly look to the past
until your mistakes are corrected.
and that nothing can change.

What if you woke up on May 8th,
with a cavalier majority,
to say that it’s so ?

Chris Hemingway is a poet and singer-songwriter from Cheltenham, who, as well as previously on The Stare’s Nest has been published in Lunar Poetry and Caduceus magazines.  He has a self-published collection of lyrics and poetry (Cigarettes and Daffodils, available from lulu.com) , has appeared at Cheltenham Poetry and Literature Festivals, and recently guested on Winchcombe Radio’s “Poetry Waves” broadcasts.