Where Did My Christmas Go?

The tree lit, but no one counting days

Stockings that stay folded

Gifts bought out of habit, not excitement

No snow, just slush in the gutters

I spend all my time working

Beating the magic out of myself

Until even the lights look tired

Every song tells me it’s bright

But I feel the gloom closing in tonight

Decked halls and jingling bells

Empty laughter, quiet hells

All this joy, it’s on display

I keep the season, it slips away

Footsteps echo where none should run

The fire burns, but the warmth is gone

Cups sit full upon the table, still

A quiet house that remembers how it feels

Bulbs in windows flicker like ghosts

Every ornament whispers what I’ve lost

Giggles that once filled these halls

Now hang in corners, thin and small

Decked halls and jingling bells

Empty laughter, quiet hells

All this joy, it’s on display

I keep the season, it slips away

Tiny footprints in the morning frost

A chair pulled out, but no one’s lost

Paper scattered from gifts long gone

Phantoms linger where humor shone

Bells that rang in years before

Murmur low through the empty floor

I reach for ghosts that used to stay

But Christmas drifts quietly away

Decked halls and jingling bells

Empty laughter, quiet hells

All this joy, it’s on display

I keep the season, it slips away

Decked halls and jingling bells

(bells)

Empty laughter, quiet hells

(hells)

All this joy, it’s on display

(as you see)

I keep the season, it slips away

(so very far away)

Frost coats the steps out on the walk

I leave the season lined with chalk

Bulbs blink weakly, dim and small

Christmas passes without... us... all