Alan L. Winters

CHRISTMAS ‘96

January 8:
Silo is having a sale.
A what? That’s right, a sale.
A shop-early-and-avoid-the-rush sale.
Not a big hit sorry to say.

August 8:
Guess who’s having a sale;
A still-not-too-late-for-just-the-right-gift sale?
Still no good – we’ll try next month.

October 1:
Chocolate ghosts or chocolate Santa?
Hardest choice to make today;
The Christmas season is here to stay.

October 15:
It’s 60 outside and the sun is high.
Inside the toy store, eight reindeer fly.
The season commercialized by TV and print
Paid for by stores in search of a mint.

November 29:
Hustle, bustle but try not to muscle.
Ladies please; it’s not the end of the world,
Just the end of the toy that you need.
Scouts on the corner selling some trees,
And the coffee they’re selling
Is beginning to freeze.

December 15:
The tree is now up on the table at home
And the lights on the houses turned on.
And you still see Santa in all of the stores
But the trees on the corners are gone.

December 24:
A mother and daughter walk home side by side
In a snow that recently fell.
And they see on the corner a handsome young man
With a jacket and kettle and bell.
And the young girl takes the last of her change
To drop in the kettle they pass.
As it chinks to the bottom the bell starts to ring,
“Mommy, another angel just got his wings.”

Submitted for the December 2006 Theme Project, “The Spirit of Christmas”