MORBID POEMS 4 MORBID PEOPLE

HOWARD'S VIEWS

THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS--IN CUBA

by  Howard E. Morseburg

‘Twas the night before Christmas and all through the land,
No Christmas tree could be seen, because they were banned.
No stockings could be hung in the house anywhere,
(People were thought lucky if they had any to wear!).
No Roller Blades, Nikes, or Nintendos could be found,
There wasn’t a toy store in any town around.
Ol’ Santa had skipped Cuba, ‘twas not he forgot,
But Castro gave orders…if he’s seen…he’ll be shot.

There’s no joy at Christmas, that's where Santa can’t go,

There’s no joy at Christmas, ol' Fidel’s made it so.
There’s no freedom to worship, or just to critique,
In a Socialist country that’s not so unique.
All children must study the Communist dictum,
They must always obey; it's a most rigid system.
Fidel's their one Santa, though he steals from them all,
He's the sole reason for their economy’s fall.

Let's remember those children on this Christmas eve,

There’s no Christmas for them, no Santa to believe,
No toys under the tree, no special Holiday,
No Freedom of Speech, no Freedom to Pray,
There's more study in school, their pleasures are few,
The Government watches every thing that they do.
No tiny reindeer go there to bring them a gift,
There’s no joy at Christmas to give their spirits a lift.

There’s no joy at Christmas in a land that’s not Free!

They don’t learn Christ’s story of the nativity!
There are no sparkling lights, there old friends dare not meet,
No carolers singing as they stroll down the street.
There's no celebration, just a day of hard work,
Their Santa’s a deranged scraggly-bearded old jerk.
There’ll be no joy in Cuba…for Santa can’t go,
There’ll be no joy at Christmas, Fidel’s made it so.

ALL ABOVE POEMS: Copyright 1994 & 2001 by Howard E. Morseburg

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ALL ABOVE POEMS: Copyright 1994 & 2001 by Howard E. Morseburg
WHAT'S CHRISTMAS LIKE IN CUBA?
EXCERPTS FROM DAVID BONE COLUMN, NOV. 18, 2002
The streets were deserted, and the whole effect was that of Christmas as a religious celebration and not a commercial bender. Rachel DeLisser I was in Cuba in December 1998, the first time that Castro allowed public celebrations. It was quite low-key, really. A few places had Christmas trees and decorations, Julie Middleton IF YOU WANT TO ESCAPE CAPITALISM'S FINEST CONSUMERFEST, THEN CUBA IS IDEAL.Hot and without the trappings of a capitalist Christmas, which abolished in 1969 because it interfered with the sugar harvest. It returned officially in 1998. Midnight mass does take place, and priests are delighted to see people, as previously their pews were empty because it had been dangerous to attend...
PLEASE: Note the anti-Capitalist undertones in most of these quotes, as if combining a religious holiday with the pleasures of both giving and receiving are antithical, and therefore adjudged by socialists as evil. They're against anything that has the slightest scent of commercialism. If you don't have it, thougb, where will jobs come from? This they cannot answer. (HEM)
Being a country where most people barely scrape a living and where there is little in the way of goods for them to buy, even if they do have any surplus income, Christmas passes virtually unnoticed. Some Catholic churches now hold low-key celebrations with midnight masses, but for most people it is a day like any other. Teresa Lipson
EDITORIAL, N.Y.SUN 12/17/04

This is the problem with Cuba and the other communistic and atheistic regimes. It is one thing to respect atheists and to protect their rights, as America's Constitution and tradition do. It is another to found one's ideology in opposition to the idea of God, as communism does. What Cuba is afraid of is different from what the ACLU and Mr. Foxman are concerned about. Castro's regime truly trembles before religion. It could not survive if religion were free to prosper. So in the darkness of Communist Cuba the regime quails before the lights that are up at the American Interests Section.
After the communist revolution, celebrations of Christmas ceased and were discouraged as Marxism-Leninism holds to a basically secular, atheist philosophy. As a result of the Pope's visit to Cuba several years ago, Christmas celebrations have returned. (FAITH & SPIRITUALITY: CHRISTMAS.COM)
SOCIALIST PHILOSOPHY: Good intentions santify evil deeds.