Christmas for One

Christmas 2019

A pile of boxes all labeled Christmas

Plastic totes and boxes and egg cartons

Stacked neatly to protect plastic and glass

Protecting the three-piece tree from ruin

Easter eggs mix with colored orbs and lights

Tidied up in July as flags joined the pile

Black cats and skulls roll under the bough

All tangled with cards, candy, and cat toys

Snow fell in blankets and heaps

Painted the housescape white

Buried Jack-o-Lanterns and witch brooms

Lost eggs and broken lights

Starting over again.

Halloween decor is buried again

The Veteran flags collect dust

(A yard of skulls was always more appropriate)

Dinner table runners and fine china watch

The dining room collects brown leaves and dust.

No Christmas tree in the foyer

Summer lights hang in the porch

No bird houses or merry feeders in the trees

No orbs, no tinsle, no sleigh of gifts

No Jesus in the living room

Or Angels in the window

No blankets over the sofa

Just another blanket of snow.

Author's Note

I'm losing my home this Christmas. I work 60 hours a week, but it's all gone by the end of the month. They can have it. I'm done fighting. Halloween was my last holiday before the notices came in. I'm just too tired to pull down the decorations.