Wednesday, December 11, 2019

Happy Holidays

My favorite things are gone
are dead or  gone.
Christmas boughs and lights
across the downtown streets
are gone.
The malls and Sears and Wards
are dead and gone.
The youngsters caroling in the streets
are old and gone.
The skaters on the creek and pond
are gone.
The pals of yore, best friends all
old, are dead, or gone.
The children gathered 'round the hearth
are grown  and gone.
Atlanta, New York City, Hollywood
hold more appeal; They're gone.
The cars we loved, the Edelbrocks
are rust, and dust, and gone.
The thrum of V-8 singing thru glasspaks
A memory only, gone.

So flip up the recliner's footrest
Flip open the laptop and go
to Amazon and click, click, click
and who's arriving? not St. Nick
but Fed Ex at you front door.
Brown boxes, boxes galore
Bring Christmas, such as it is.
Have a  merry.
ho ho hum.   humbug

8 comments:

Sharkbytes (TM) said...

aw... so sad. Can I send you some good cheer? Maybe mustache wax or a puppy?

vanilla said...

Sharkey, I am running low on the Pinaud. ;-)

Secondary Roads said...

Where I last worked, I'd frequently hear someone say, "Life sucks and then you die." So inspiring and uplifting.

Lin said...

I find myself thinking the same way sometimes---"Remember when" or "I remember when..." and my mind drifts back to the good old days. I like to tell my kids of how Christmas was when I was a little girl. I wonder, what will they tell their kids about our holidays now? There are good and bad in both, so I try to balance the memories with cool stuff that we do now--for example, the train village.

vanilla said...

Chuck, I suppose in a manner of speaking that this little piece is about as uplifting as that succinct saying. Sorry about that.

Lin, it all started when BBBH, on a shopping spree, (she, I drove) noted an empty building where a restaurant we once liked used to be. Dead. Then we passed the mall that Sears once anchored. Reflected on scenes from similar excursions "back in the day" then came home and this happened. Well, sorry. I'll chirk up now and get into a proper Christmas spirit.

Vee said...

I love the memories from the past but would not have the energy to be there again. I cherish memories of my time growing up in Colorado - which includes you. (Ice skating, bicycle riding, vacant lot baseball, hiking, friends.) I remember fondly the many activities of our kiddos as I lived vicariously through them, and I could not have had a more satisfying career. Taking the kids to see Santa at Sears and shopping for toys was fun, but the convenience of "click shopping" and having things delivered postage-free gives me more time for making new memories - different but special all the same.

Now our great-grands make memories playing organized sports (soccer and baseball), taking dance and piano lessons, riding their bicycles, swimming, spending days at the water park or beach, hiking, skiing, and baking cookies with their grandmas. Lucky for them, their savvy parents see the need for tech free days and don't give them smart phones to carry in their pockets.

Just wondering. Want to go ice skating with us? LOL

vanilla said...

Vee, ice skating? Well you might LOL. You want be to break what few working parts I have left? I am happy for you that you have a storehouse full of good memories, and that it has yet room for new ones. You are the champion,attitudinally speaking.

vanilla said...

Vee, "want me" --no, I don't have a cold.