Already Christmas lights are blurring in the afterglow
of gifts spilled in haste on to waiting hands below
the ribboned paper and dainty bows caparisoned
like a king’s treasure to tease even from cynics a frisson
of desire.

Left to sit in shoddy form, a garage sale come and gone,
the torn wrappings and ribbons now sitting in a lone
bag of refuse outside the kitchen door are joined
by the remnants of the day thoroughly mined
for gold.

Are you here too, standing in the shadows by the window
looking in? Are you like me caught by a steady radiant glow
eclipsing coveted tokens and shiny favored toys so carelessly spread?
Oh, Christmas remains where the eternal Light burns in dear eyes wed
in love!