Holes in the Stockings

I walk past the windows laden with joyous displays,
music pouring out of every store.
Long ago I would press myself against the windows,
giddy with delight.
                    Lights!
                        Music!
                          Swirling colors!
All a lure for a gullible child.

Now the colors depress me.
Money once spent on my loved one is used for
    the van,
        a washing machine, 
            medical bills…
                      endless medical bills…

I am drowning in the holiday spirit.
I have the stake of holly in my heart that Scrooge waved in his hand.
Gasping for air like a dying Christmas tree with each blow of the blade.

When did life change?
When did I need to start selling heirlooms to buy oxygen?
When did Christmas become poems and paper?

I will sell my boots tonight,
they will pay for the next treatment.
Odd…
        I wonder what the snow will feel like on my feet?
Christmas.
    Poems and paper…

and holes in the stockings.

If you like this poem, be sure to check these out.

• A Gift for Sandy – Creative Nonfiction
• A Simple Gift – Creative Nonfiction
• Man in the Shadows – Fiction
• Holiday Delights – Poetry
• Christmas Waltz – Poetry

Sue Cook

+ posts

Sue Cook lives in Freeport, Illinois with her husband Randy and two dogs. Her passions include assistance dogs, rescue dogs, music, acting, theater, poetry, and Doctor Who. She’s been in both film and theater and is a regular cast member of the podcast Doctor Who’s Line is it….Anyway? Sue is an advocate for the use of Service Dogs to assist their disabled handlers to maintain their independence. Quigley’s Quest, her first children’s book, addresses how a dog becomes a Service Dog.

• Yule Dreams
• The Enemy Within
• Let Me Go And Win This Fight
• Book Review: The Crimson Crown