Christmas Presence

12.12.2008 Christmas Presence

 

the night was mild

and the moon was full

 

in a jet streamed sky

venus and Jupiter dine together

 

together they beam,

“and we are the best of friends”

 

with two weeks to winter

a timid bounce is seen in the distance

 

parading through this frontier town

two feet causing a patterned beat

 

Christmas lights smear across his face,

and Christmas bells clash in his ears.

 

Part way up a plateau

he pauses. And thinks of her,

 

a girl stranded in her own desert

with no snow for winter

 

a girl willed by her ambition

with no carols for Christmas

 

a girl betrayed by her honesty

with no presents to send

 

His mind races to what he cannot outrun,

And so he will run until the sidewalk ends.

 

rushing through the lime lit streets

rushing through the singing lanes

 

plowing past reindeer lawns and

plastic singing globes of fake fallen snow

 

So home he goes, where the sidewalks ends.

No tree, no lights: his front stoop.

 

Part way through his entryway,

he pauses and sees her,

 

            a girl bundled in her woolen mess

with scarf, mittens, hat and socks 

 

a girl breathing stoic air

with love filled eyes

 

a girl weeping brackish tears

with outstretched arms

 

He wraps her tightly in his Christmas arms;

she is his present that he has waited to open.

 

 

 

Kevin M. Reader