Christmas Lights, MM's 10th Holiday Classic Options

[K.S. Lenk]

Christmas Lights

I may as well have reds
rub shoulders with purples,
let yellows highlight greens.

Each year, I twist coloured
candles into place
and turn them a little tighter
in their holders,
their usual squeak
unruly, mocking

my attempt to break.
I drape roughly while
they wink their vows of comfort,
promise pleasing scenes
in which only they will fit.

My fall comes when I
catch my father in a
narrow eyed inspection.
Big as a house, he bought them,
beaming ice and fire.

And so I plunge again,
alone, into his
arms of fondness,
arms of plenty,
and greet this ghostly,
tranquil fraud.