AprilDawn

AprilDawn Dec 2014

doesn't
much care
for
Christmas
anymore
go ahead
try to spread
  your holiday
cheese ball cheer
wrap me up
in flashy lights
roll me down
candy cane lane
  there still
ain’t enough
   tinsel
in the world
  to cover up
    this
yuletide
grouch

After my husband died , there were a few Christmas times where I just had a hard time coming up with the spirit.This Christmas will probably be another , because we have to put our older pup to sleep tomorrow. I already miss her.

#nochristmascheer

AprilDawn Nov 2014

Traditions

You Use To

drop the turkey

twice on special holidays

glaze the ham

with stubborn certainty

that lime chutney was

just the ticket

Sterno steaks

brought your short lived

grilling career to a

screeching halt

not to be outdone

by the half- cooked goose

with New Year’s champagne

what I wouldn't give

to see you

greasing

the kitchen floor

with poultry again.

Even over a decade later,around different holidays , I still think about my late husband's traditional festive meals in which some mild form of kitchen chaos was almost always involved.Written in 2005 in the years after he died I began to make the holiday meals , and I had my share of mess ups ...none were as memorable as his.

#misshismess

AprilDawn Nov 2014

Thanksgiving

Stick a fork in it
and call it
yours
stuff your pie
hole
and please
don't smile
then sit back
and enjoy
the insides
of your eyelids
but do it fast
'cause someone
you love
is stealing
the remote control
from your
greasy hand

In honor of American Thanksgiving .....

#turkeydayusa

AprilDawn Nov 2014

Snow Globe

town
all shook up
only way
to sparkle today
in this gray haze
flurry flurry
what's your hurry
winter will to trap us
in a hot cocoa
cup
soon enough

It's still Fall ...but it was snowing yesterday. I felt like I was in a snow globe !

#firstflurries

AprilDawn Nov 2014

Uncommon Grounds

My heart scans
for a familiar face
through throngs
of strangers
as they scatter
pell mell
around me
eager shoppers
casing brightly lit
  sale stuffed store fronts
while seduced
by the siren song of fresh coffee
coupled  with
sticky sweet  cinnamon buns
suddenly
the bitter fact
swallows  me
whole again
you no longer reside
anywhere
outside
of  my dreams

In the weeks , months and even the first year after my husband's brutal death in 2002 , the occasional mall visit would turn into bleak despair every time . I automatically scanned faces looking for him, until I remembered suddenly that he was dead. I felt like I was on an island of heartbreak in the middle of a crowded mall. Life rushed past me during those times , and I felt like a total outcast, nothing in common with everyday life anymore.

#bittercupoflife

AprilDawn Nov 2014

Candy Corn Blues

Every year
the same deal
treats
obtained too early
under the
seasonally seductive
store lights
nestled  next
to  the fake fall foliage
become mysteriously
rerouted
from their final destination
as intense inspections
conducted
under the guise of
quality control
these  pilfered  provisions
perform a vanishing act
visions of  sad
costumed tots
at the  doorway
with empty bags
hurry a return visit
for rapid  replacements
tragedy narrowly
averted
once
   again

Every year I buy Halloween candy too early and wind up noshing on too many...and then have to buy more to avert the disaster of running out of candy on Halloween night ...
I wrote this a few years back , finished it today !

#candycornblues

AprilDawn Nov 2014

Sparks

fly
not magic
just static
fuzzy slippers slipping
along the  carpet
only heat
my  stone cold bones
are feeling
          today

I wrote a version of this poem when I lived in New England about seven years ago.It's been so cold this year so far so early in the season , I brought this sucker back from the dusty archives !

#needahottoddy