Christmas on the Border, 1929

Alberto Ríos

       ^{Based on local newspaper reports
       and recollections from the time.}

1929, the early days of the Great Depression.
The desert air was biting, but the spirit of the season was alive.

Despite hard times, the town of Nogales, Arizona, determined
They would host a grand Christmas party

For the children in the area—a celebration that would defy
The gloom of the year, the headlines in the paper, and winter itself.

In the heart of town, a towering Christmas tree stood,
A pine in the desert.

Its branches, they promised, would be adorned
With over 3,000 gifts. 3,000.

The thought at first was to illuminate the tree like at home,
With candles, but it was already a little dry.

Needles were beginning to contemplate jumping.
A finger along a branch made them all fall off.

People brought candles anyway. The church sent over
Some used ones, too. The grocery store sent

Some paper bags, which settled things.
Everyone knew what to do.

They filled the bags with sand from the fire station,
Put the candles in them, making a big pool of lighted luminarias.

From a distance the tree was floating in a lake of light—
Fire so normally a terror in the desert, but here so close to miracle.

For the tree itself, people brought garlands from home, garlands
Made of everything, walnuts and small gourds and flowers,

Chilies, too—the chilies themselves looking
A little like flames.

The townspeople strung them all over the beast—
It kept getting bigger, after all, with each new addition,

This curious donkey whose burden was joy.
At the end, the final touch was tinsel, tinsel everywhere, more tinsel.

Children from nearby communities were invited, and so were those
From across the border, in Nogales, Sonora, a stone’s throw away.

But there was a problem. The border.
As the festive day approached, it became painfully clear—

The children in Nogales, Sonora, would not be able to cross over.
They were, quite literally, on the wrong side of Christmas.

Determined to find a solution, the people of Nogales, Arizona,
Collaborated with Mexican authorities on the other side.

In a gesture as generous as it was bold, as happy as it was cold:
On Christmas Eve, 1929,

For a few transcendent hours,
The border moved.

Officials shifted it north, past city hall, in this way bringing
The Christmas tree within reach of children from both towns.

On Christmas Day, thousands of children—
American and Mexican, Indigenous and orphaned—

Gathered around the tree, hands outstretched,
Eyes wide, with shouting and singing both.

Gifts were passed out, candy canes were licked,
And for one day, there was no border.

When the last present had been handed out,
When the last child returned home,

The border resumed its usual place,
Separating the two towns once again.

For those few hours, however, the line in the sand disappeared.
The only thing that mattered was Christmas.

Newspapers reported no incidents that day, nothing beyond
The running of children, their pockets stuffed with candy and toys,

Milling people on both sides,
The music of so many peppermint candies being unwrapped.

On that chilly December day, the people of Nogales
Gathered and did what seemed impossible:

However quietly regarding the outside world,
They simply redrew the border.

In doing so, they brought a little more warmth to the desert winter.
On the border, on this day, they had a problem and they solved it.

Copyright © 2024 by Alberto Ríos. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on December 22, 2024, by the Academy of American Poets.

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about this poem

“I didn’t live through the Christmas of 1929, but growing up in Nogales, the border was always there—constant, imposing, dividing and connecting at the same time. This poem reflects on a story from before my time, when the border wasn’t just a barrier but something that became a solution. It tells of a community that, for one Christmas, chose unity over division, moving the line in the sand to bring joy to children from both Nogales, Arizona, and Nogales, Sonora. Growing up with the border always in sight, this story resonates deeply for me—proof that even in separation, people’s determination can make the impossible happen.”
—Alberto Ríos

academy chancellors

Alberto Ríos’ poem “Christmas on the Border, 1929” is featured in today’s Poem-a-Day as part of a weekend series, highlighting the artistic contributions of former Academy Chancellors. The Academy’s Board of Chancellors is composed of esteemed poets who serve as artistic advisors to the Academy and ambassadors of poetry to the United States at large, select the recipients of major Academy prizes and fellowships, and champion the the organization’s programs for poets and readers.

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