Just Another Day

I wake up and my room feels like it’s eighty-five degrees My roommate is gone, not sure she will be coming back No one is telling me anything, I am not stupid or dumb Here comes my aid, time to wash me up and help me dress She comes in bubbly and smiling as she tells me she is excited She found her son’s toy he wanted for Christmas, He has it now I go out into the common room for breakfast and look at the tree It’s brightly lit with colorful flashing bulbs and generic ornaments Merry Christmas I hear people say, it must be Christmas today We sit and watch hallmark movies, some of us play bingo We wait for our ham dinner, not like the ones I used to cook Vague memories flash in my head, my husband, handsome, smiling I haven’t seen his face in over fifteen years, still outliving him My family is all gone, we lost our only child at eighteen years old Getting old and being alone is a lonely place to be, what’s on TV? Here comes our meal, where’s the wine and the shrimp, where am I? I used to make a chocolate yule log for a house full at Christmas My head is feeling foggy, I am tired, I think I will just go lie down They say it’s Christmas today, but to me it’s just another day 12/18/19 Contest: The Darker Side of Christmas Sponsor: Richard Lamoureux