Undecorating

We're back in Peoria. All this undecorating lately has moved me to draft some rough verses:

‘Twas the month after Christmas and all through the house
Not a visitor was stirring, just my kids and my spouse.

The greeting cards were hung on the walls up in rows,
Ordered neatly at first, ending in piles below.

The fridge was a maze of unmarked plastic tubs
Ranging from bean dip to shredded chicken subs.

The cookies were nearly gone – just a couple in each tin –
Assuring that in the new year we’d have to sweat to get thin.

Eight plastic bags in the garage filled with a holiday mash
Of unrecyclable paper and plastic and other such trash.

I begged my poor family as the mess made my head churn
“Should we pack it away again or can we please let it burn?”

Gift clothes were piled in closets and electronics on shelves
Toys were stuffed in chests and money kept to ourselves.

The ornaments so festive, the lights brightly glowing,
Were stripped from the tree and crammed in tubs overflowing.

Like dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly
Tree needles were vacuumed up in a pine-scented sigh.

The outdoor décor placed during warmer ecstatics
Were hastily removed by cold weather acrobatics.

We muttered many words as we slogged through the work.
I felt like the Grinch or old Scrooge or a similar jerk.

Yet we should all realize if we sit back and take stock
Christmas is not something that should be kept in a box.

So many levels and layers this Christmas story has
God, human, king, child, Savior…this cannot be surpassed.

So I challenge us all, me especially I fear,
To honor Christmas in our hearts and try to keep it all year.