NANCY CROVETTI The Other Side of Christmas
It is the other side of Christmas, just a day or two; You can feel the holiday has gone, melted away leaving behind patches of snow. No more rushing and bustling of crowds' anticipation in the air; only stillness. Like the last notes of a music box, the hectic festivity has wound itself down The holiday lights still hang in the trees of the city park where Athena and I have come on our walk because is it not too far, not too cold for the arthritic limbs. We sit among the lingering vestiges of the season. Not flashing, blinking greens, reds or blues against the pitch dark night but simple beacons: starry strand upon strand wound through leafless limbs like popcorn strung around black licorice sticks.
It is the other side of Christmas, just a day or two; You can feel the holiday has gone, melted away leaving behind patches of snow. No more rushing and bustling of crowds' anticipation in the air; only stillness. Like the last notes of a music box, the hectic festivity has wound itself down The holiday lights still hang in the trees of the city park where Athena and I have come on our walk because is it not too far, not too cold for the arthritic limbs. We sit among the lingering vestiges of the season. Not flashing, blinking greens, reds or blues against the pitch dark night but simple beacons: starry strand upon strand wound through leafless limbs like popcorn strung around black licorice sticks. Though only early evening there is no hum of traffic or distant music. We are wrapped in a silence you can almost touch, as if the college town itself has left for winter break Together we sit a woman and a dog, peacefully together on an almost holy night.
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Happy Holidays from the Daily Palette!
The Daily Palette Vintage--featuring Iowa Writes
About Iowa Writes:
Since 2006, "Iowa Writes" has featured the work of Iowa-identified writers on The Daily Palette, and it has recently expanded its scope to include work published by Iowa journals and publishers. Curated by the staff of The Iowa Review, "Iowa Writes" features poetry, fiction, or nonfiction several times a week on the Palette.
In November of 2008, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) designated Iowa City, Iowa, the world's third City of Literature, making the community part of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network.
Iowa City has joined Edinburgh, Scotland and Melbourne, Australia as UNESCO Cities of Literature.
Find out more about submitting by contacting iowa-writes@uiowa.edu.
NANCY CROVETTI Nancy writes, "I've lived in Lamoni for 14 years, and the biggest the reason I stayed after my husband died in 2000, was because of our dogs. We had created a wonderful kennel set-up, for Lady, a once famous Narcotics Detection K9 and her entourage. Where was I going to go with 5 Rottweilers? This poem was originally a descriptive paragraph for a Non-Fiction Writing class I took with Carol Lauhon, a memorial tribute to one of my canines." This page was originally published on November 28, 2008. |
This page was first displayed on December 26, 2013
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