Season’s Greetings

It’s that time of year: Hallmark-perfect snowflakes

swirling in a globe,

reindeer on the roof,

Santa ho-ho-ho-ing down that dark hole

called a chimney,

hefting elfin-made toys

with component parts imported from China,

deadline of Christmas Eve delivery

made vulnerable by supply chain issues

through east Asia and the North Pole.

 

Many years ago Christmas Eve, as a four-year-old

feigning sleep

beside our lighted Christmas tree,

mommy tiptoed in, tucked a few presents under it.

I stopped believing in Santa

even after shopping malls

proved he existed, before learning the myth of St. Nicholas,

the monk–a minor disaster,

but apocalyptic on Christmas Eve,

in a home without a chimney!