That time of year

There’s something in the air right now
To make us all remember
The Christmas season’s imminent,
We have reached December.

.I remember in the old days,
(Right now I’m 82)
We’d get a lot of Christmas cards
From persons that we knew.

We really get much fewer now
But there’s no need to fuss
Either we lost track of them
Or they lost track of us.

You might say the survivors
Are really rather better
As long as they enclose in them
A detailed Christmas letter

Recounting all their triumphs
Was what they used to say
But now we get their state of health
And how they are today

Other factors too remind us
To remember, without fail.
A flood of begging letters
From good causes in the mail

We seem to have had dozens
And it seems we will get more
The mail man just delivered one
Meant to go next door.

To make it seem less painful
Enclosed within each one
Is promotional material
As thanks for what we’ve done

Bags to put your books in
Mats to put on tables
And a never ending surplus
Of self addressing labels

There’s just one thing that troubles me
And that makes me pause
What they spent on their promotions
Leaves less to serve their cause