Against the Stream

Prompt for: November 23rd, 2018 (fyn)
Subject or Theme: Black Friday
Word(s) to Include: mad, curl, spend, time, guard
Forbidden Word(s): Friday, Black, Shop, present, gift, store, day, sale
Additional Parameters: Minimum 24 lines. Minimal rhyming.
Remember, do not use forbidden words ANYWHERE, including title or the brief description.


Thanksgiving has come and gone
heralding the official beginning
of the Christmas Season -
although the unofficial start
was something like three months ago.
Most folks I know
will embark on the mad dash to acquire
must-have items for all
on their lists.

Not me.
I'll be curled by the fire
contemplating the tree
that is dressed only in a string of lights,
unaccessorized as yet.
This, the small, 'early tree'
tides me over until
we can go and chop down the
big one, the real one
with the needles that will drop
when we forget to water it--yet again this year.
The one that shall grace the front window,
the one that shall stand guard over the cool stuff
I've collected since last February. No need to go out.

Not me.
Because I am home without people
to crowd my mind, my space.
My husband isn't people, you see.
He's a nonpeople and he'll be outside
putting up lights. I won't see red or
be stressed. Dressed
in jammies; no accessories.
Not spending time
searching for a parking place
to fight the hoards
searching for the perfect
prize.

Not me.
I'll eat a cold turkey sandwhich
and listen to Mary's Boy Child
while thinking of years past
and add this year's
Mark Robert's Fairy Santa to the tree.
I'll nap, perhaps. And later,
my husband and I will sit by the fire
and just breathe.

That'll be me.







46 lines