Christmas Apology
she ...
my joy -
always slept there ...
rescues, you see,
she and her half-sister came just
before Christmas,
and the tree -
its lights,
Its protection,
its warmth and refuge -
was their safe place,
especially hers -
year-after-year.
sweetest soul I've ever known …
if not with me,
(paws wrapped around my arm,
head nuzzled close),
that's where I'd find her -
content ... secure ...
her excitement each year
when I put it up was irrepressible,
(she would always supervise),
her sadness when it came down -
weighty, tangible ...
yet even that did not compare
to the ACHE I felt at the thought of her
never being there again ...
never brushing its
branches with her tail,
never cozy and quiet beneath its
colored Christmas canopy ...
I couldn't do it -
I couldn't put it up,
dress its boughs in lights,
place star atop,
dangle ornaments ...
I tried, for the sake of others,
but I just … could … not …
for MY dearest Christmas gift will
never more be bundled below ...
though I love it so,
I did not have the heart for
that beautiful tree,
and I may never have it ...
again.
Copyright © Gregory Richard Barden, December 24, 2022
( photograph taken by Gregory R Barden )
Copyright © Gregory Richard Barden | Year Posted 2023
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