on christmas
as if by some miraculous and
mutual agreement, all permitted all
to witness one another’s happiness—
not to say their smiles, necessarily;
some did not smile, merely carried
selves or loads a little lighter
down the sidewalk
to the parking lot
as if to say, the year was long,
but this!—this, proud, we have maintained
that from its place within our gardens
holding forth, eternal flames
