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‘Between Christmas and the year you never knew’ by Stephen Watt

‘Between Christmas and the year you never knew’

A terrible time of year to go.

Not a holiday, but expiring.
Accepting
that the wiring in your body is loose;
heart attacks
caused by Star Jumps
or having the stomach pumped
after an uninspiring vindaloo.

Between Christmas
and the year you never knew
when the Cat & Dog Homes balloon,
you pull down the fur-lined hood
of your favourite parka,
shuffling away from city bustle
towards the park ten minutes out of town

where century-old ash trees
leaflet-drop, cramming spam
into the damp ground
and gulls grind their mussel shells
like teeth of misted crystal balls
forecasting ill health.

It was a bolt from out of the blue.

A scarlet half moon
hangs
from a rosy sky
like a necklace wrapped in scrunched tissue;
this present is already overdue.
A terrible time of year to go
between Christmas
and the year you never knew.

Stephen Watt, 27 December, 2016

This section: Christmas Poems , Stories and Winter Tales, Stephen Watt, Poet.