Decorating with Family
Of course,
lights at Christmas
are cliche, but I am partial
to a particular string
that runs the length
looping over the sink's
picture window, weaving
through reclaimed wood shelving
before leaping over the head
of the dining room french doors
only to become tangled
among the usual litany of family
photos to create a halo
at the crown of a self-portrait
bust of my son, before ending
in the distant corner illuminating
the cat tree.
Now,
claiming that I was drunk
during the aforementioned
revelry seems to be shrill
hyperbole; I can't deny
the loss of a single straight pin
poorly engineered, placed, deposited
at the right corner of the aforementioned
picture window, failing
to avoid gravity, fell
with a quiet, directionally
ambiguos plink-
off the kitchen counter; my wife crying
"Everyone freeze!". Aunt Sue reasoning,
"Check the sink. It might
ruin the garbage disposal." "What if
it's in the jello salad," cautioned Nana.
My mother-in-law stepping up offering
her gaze.
In the end, it was Aunt Edna
saved the day. Bless her sole.
Of course,
lights at Christmas
are cliche, but I am partial
to a particular string
that runs the length
looping over the sink's
picture window, weaving
through reclaimed wood shelving
before leaping over the head
of the dining room french doors
only to become tangled
among the usual litany of family
photos to create a halo
at the crown of a self-portrait
bust of my son, before ending
in the distant corner illuminating
the cat tree.
Now,
claiming that I was drunk
during the aforementioned
revelry seems to be shrill
hyperbole; I can't deny
the loss of a single straight pin
poorly engineered, placed, deposited
at the right corner of the aforementioned
picture window, failing
to avoid gravity, fell
with a quiet, directionally
ambiguos plink-
off the kitchen counter; my wife crying
"Everyone freeze!". Aunt Sue reasoning,
"Check the sink. It might
ruin the garbage disposal." "What if
it's in the jello salad," cautioned Nana.
My mother-in-law stepping up offering
her gaze.
In the end, it was Aunt Edna
saved the day. Bless her sole.