JUST FOR TODAY

JUST FOR TODAY

Surely this is Christmas, with cramped
table space, raucous jesting, laughter
in humor, only we could know.
Impatiently, the meal must be served;
a prelude to the main event.

Boys are men now; girls have grown, seasoned
elders breathe in babies blissful for the second act.
Our dinner flurries with laughing and jousting
as five topics roar in symmetrical chaos; adults
returning to middle school antics.
Language is safe, just for today.

Our migration journeys toward the Christmas tree,
fifty+ gifts devour the living room, tossed, stacked,
haphazardly thrown, blanketing every space; except
these memories recorded in our hearts. It's been forty
plus seasons, filling this scrapbook, the same book
so normal this year, the same routine, as safe as before.

Our tradition is the same, today - for just this day -
nothing changes in our crowded family space;
smiles, giddiness, and love - solid like the oak,
restorative as the river, comforting as the moon,
reminders of our Christmas, constant Christmas,
patient Christmas, which cloaks our souls.


- njames (December 2010)