No Room at the Inn, MM's 10th Holiday Classic Options

[danimik]

No Room at the Inn

He read the Waste Land,
searching for the fine print
and making of it
a guide for life. He enjoyed
stories of wise men,
and he looked out for them
on every street corners
He thought he might find
meanings in the conversations
of the temple women who
seemed to have replaced
the three kings, but he heard
mere confusions and riot,
obscene and dark as the shadows
thrown by the nightlights.

Once, he followed a star
for as long as he could,
but it sped out of sight, disappeared
over the rim of buildings
and he never found a mythic inn,
just a room of drunkards
and moneylenders.
There followed a year of bitter wangles
with the Inland Revenue,
which he lost.

Later he heard of satellites
that raced the sun around the earth,
and he figured the reality
of his star.

One evening as he walked home,
the rain dripping from his hair,
and the end of his nose, he stepped over
the stream that ran down the gutter.
Beneath the arch of his legs,
a card floated towards the drain.
Finally, he saw a star, saw
wise men and sheep - too late,
his faith had dwindled
and now he wallowed
in the stink of the Black Friday,
all his presents bought and wrapped
without thought or feeling.