Joy To The World Poem by Jim Yerman

I learned a little about joy…
on our main street…of all places…
as a group of children were singing Christmas carols and dancing…
The joy was on their faces.

We stopped and listened to them sing…Joy To The World was the song…
and as they sang and danced…they encouraged us to sing along.

They were not professionals…that was easy to hear and see…
They bumped into each other when they danced and they often sang off-key.

But what I noticed as they danced and sang on the face of each girl and boy…
how bumping into one another or singing off-key…never diminished their joy.

The more we watched them sing and dance
the more their joy to the world was apparent to me…
Because…as the song continued and they continued to dance…
the more joyful they seemed to be.

And there is the lesson I learned on our main street…of all places…
as I watched a group of children sing and dance…and saw the joy upon their faces.

It's a lesson about joy…and where our joy comes from….
A lesson about who we are…and who we can become….

It's a lesson I forget sometimes…but one I have known all along….
How these children didn't get their joy from….Joy To The World…
they brought their joy to…the song.