i told you there would be a christmas poem
and i meant it at the time
but hours got away
there was a cough and i needed sleep
or thought i did

there is a full moon out
and somebody out there in the world
just thought about me so hard
that it sent chills from my head
down my back

and i thought to myself
i hear you

it has been a tough year
and i know that
i've said that before
but my mettle has been tested
and when the chips were down
i thought i was done

maybe not so much anymore
i seem to have got a second wind
i may still skip out of the stress-full job
and go back to time travelling
in the eighteenth century
they have wool there
and i can spin threads
just like old rumpelstiltskin

i can do that, you know,
have spinning wheel
will travel

my nest is far from empty
but i have suffered
from the eldest little eaglet
flying away
just a couple of three states
for six months so far
but no
i'm just not ready for it

she flew in for christmas
and wanders in and out of the house
still gone
but somewhere in the same county
at least

it is good to keep a sense of humor
especially in the midst
of all the tragedy
i understand now
what my grandmother meant
when she said
'why couldn't it be me?'
i would have taken any of their places
they were too young for funerals

but still i here am
and so many lessons left to learn
at my young old age
and merry new year to all of you

you are still my best gift







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