Carols with Care
Corey Taft
There's a group of children singing "Silent Night" at my grandmother's retirement home.
And from the bathroom it sounds like the most beautiful song in the world.
True, their a little off key, not all the children know the words and it's assumed some fat kid is probably in the back trying to keep his ankle-length shorts from falling down.
But it still sounds beautiful.
I wash my hands and I can see my smiling reflection in my palms.
Outside this bathroom young children,
who don't even know how important swallowing the last pill is,
are making the most beautiful sound in the world.
Silent Night
Silent nights
Silence night after night after night
Because bedtime is at 9 PM and there are no exceptions.
So Mr. Henderson, turn off the TV and go to bed.
Holy Night
Hold me at night
Hold me, because I'm afraid tonight will be my last night
Pray that I'll live through the night.
All is calm
All should be calm
I expect to come out of the bathroom to a soothing rendition of "Silent Night"
and a view of thankful elders listening in awe.
I crack the door open slowly as not to disturb the children
only to find everything I had expected to see was still lingering in the bathroom somewhere in the reflection of my palms.
Children not in lines,
Old people sleeping as if nothing is going on,
Nurses escorting a frail women to her bedroom,
Two patients playing a game of dominoes,
The TV blasting an old "Murder She Wrote" episode,
The fat kid is trying to keep his shorts up, but at the same time he keeps poking the boy in front of him, who mind you isn't even singing.
An elderly man in overalls sits in the corner,
rocking on a rocking chair, not making a sound.
Completely out of place in bright blue overall jeans.
Completely unaware of the children's singing.
Completely at peace.
It begs the question:
What came first. The peaceful man or the kids singing about peace?
All is bright
A bright smile hangs on my grandmother's face.
I watch her watch me walk from the bathroom to the seat right next to her.
She looks happy, her smile is wide, her cheeks are red and her eyes are bright.
Brighter than her mind.
Ask my grandmother what year it is, she wouldn't be able to tell you.
Ask my grandmother how old she is, she wouldn't be able to tell you.
Ask my grandmother who I am, she wouldn't be able to tell you.
But she's happy.
And I don't know whether it’s the children singing
or that a friendly stranger has decided to sit next to her.
Round yon virgin,
Round and round and round a little red-headed girl spins
She has decided that this is more of a solo outfit than a group choir.
Every time her mouth opens, shrieks fill the commons,
the earth shifts slightly
the retirement home dog howls in misery
A sleeping women cries for silence
A SLEEPING WOMEN CRIES FOR SILENCE!!!
She is crying for silence during a performance of "Silent Night",
at a nursing home while this little girl is literally waking the dead.
The irony there is out of this world.
Mother and child
Mother stands over and helps feed child.
Her 4th child
Her oldest child
The unexpected child
The child she never thought she would have to care for.
The child that once raised her
The child that once called her daughter
The child that she calls Mother.
She doesn't have time to listen to the other children,
Her oldest infant needs to eat.
Holy infant
Holy and innocent infant children
Hold them back from what they are seeing.
Woman in the corner screaming at a house plant
Nurse pleading over the phone how she wants a new job
Man rocking in silence, ignoring their beauty.
Mother holding mother as if she were her child
My grandmother smiling at me as if she really does know who I am.
Hold them back and preserve their innocence
Or let them free and let them see the world
for it's pain
for it's beauty.
So tender and mild
What little do they know.
Some old lady comes down the hallway naked.
Naked!
Not missing socks naked or just wearing pants naked
but naked Naked!
Luckily the kids are unfazed,
they've practiced, they know their lines, they can't be stopped.
"Oh my God, Oh my god help me"
And while she screams for help from her creator,
these children are singing about the birth of Christ.
I'm very confused.
I look over my shoulder, expecting to see some theologian asking me
"If I believe in heaven?"
But instead I find the older man in overalls astutely listening to the children,
he mimes the words as if he was there with the children for each of their practices.
And although sound is clearly not coming out of his mouth, he is more on key than anyone of those kids.
Suddenly the reflection that was once in my palms brightens the room.
I smile, and my grandmother smiles, and the nurse puts down her phone and smiles,
And the naked lady stops screaming and smiles, and the mother stops feeding her 94 year old child and smiles
And the fat kid stops poking the kid in front of him
And red headed girl stops yelling the lyrics and they both smile.
Suddenly "Silent Night" makes sense.
Suddenly silence is beautiful.
Sleep in heavenly peace.
40 nursing home patients will go to sleep tonight
and 39 will wake up.
Of those 39, 30 will forget the children ever came.
Of those 9 who remember, only 4 could tell what song they sang.
3 out of 4 will think you were one of the kids and you're back.
And 1, maybe 1 will tell you those kids made the most beautiful sound in the world.
And they'll close their eyes and see those kids right there singing:
Sleep in heavenly peace.