The Taking Down

Taking Down
The time has come to box up the Holidays until next year.

The Taking Down

I.

The Holidays have gone out with the trash

all Christmas poetry gone down with tree

then boxed away, the lights no longer free,

to store the joy collected with my stash.

Now I hear Haydn come from inside rooms,

no room for Christmas in my thumbtack home

now different stars cluster under my dome,

a string quartet whose melody still looms.

This difference between the reasonable

or definition of the rational

within the packaging of this Holiday.

Now our soup is served on a plain table,

a transition even if trivial,

where green and red tablecloth once had say.

II.

This seasonal perfection takes its toll

upon the old man and his simple joys,

his need to quiet all his inside noise,

ignite the coal he finds within his soul.

To box and take extensive notes of sounds,

the scratch of needle after a choral,

the muffled sound of folding up floral

arrangements found upon these trodden grounds.

Why does it take so long to say goodbye

to festivals we bow to every year

these symbols hanging from our Christmas tree.

To start another season’s ingrained sigh

these chores a way to conquer silent fear

to box away the lights no longer free.

III.

In time the world will thin and seem so sparse,

last year our Cornucopia was full

made us forget about our constant pull

and daily reminders of morning farce.

This taking down an act of theater

where I take leading role upon this stage

to teach my children routines from my age,

to hold them tight, each a conspirator.

Each box is stored away where they belong,

each trinket hidden, mixed with old and new,

away from sight and darkened without light.

Our home, our church, where we sing our plainsong

after a liturgy on how we grew

from Holidays that fall from our eyesight.

“All Christmas poetry gone down with the tree.” There is a place in this box for this: https://www.creativeexiles.com/2018/12/time-to-slice-up-the-fruitcake-with-friends-and-family/

 

Jamie Lee Hamann
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Jamie Lee Hamann

My name is Jamie Lee Hamann and I have a passion for writing short fiction and poetry. I started writing for TCE around 2015 and since then I have finished seven collections of poetry and plans for more. I currently live in Lemmon Valley NV with my family. If you desire to find my other work on the internet feel free to stop by my website simplepoetics.weebly.com. The website offers articles on poetry, poems, and links to all my other writing.

4 thoughts on “The Taking Down

    • February 9, 2020 at 4:49 PM
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      Christmas is a wonderful time for most folks or it can be a a heartfelt reminder of things that have gone sour in ones life. Your poetry shows the joy of Christmas which I am thankful for.

  • February 9, 2020 at 5:24 PM
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    Always one of the saddest holiday moment if you manage to get through the holidys. I hit some rough seas at the end of this year so I did not even decorate. Thank you for your poetic thoughts of how the holidays come and go and it made me a part of all that.

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