![\"Autumn](\"http:\/\/www.thecitypoetry.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/autumn-night-window.jpg\")
Autumn Night Window by Lady<\/p><\/div>\n
Christmas Time machines, when they finally get invented, will be a real disappointment. Soon they will be novelty items in the Sharper Image catalog, Hiding Christmas gifts became a snap: Cleaning up Christmas decorations will be easy. reuse your wrapping paper, Snow? Why shovel? Christmas gypsies And Christmas is nothing without the family And some of us, \/zap\/<\/p>\n ~ Geoffrey A. Landis<\/p>\n December 22, 2011<\/strong><\/p>\n Click of contracting metal ~ Steven B. Smith<\/p>\n Solstice Night<\/strong><\/p>\n Dusk descends muting the light of day ~ S. Renay Sanders \u00a9<\/p>\n
\n(after we all get time machines)<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nTurns out, you can’t go backward
\n— no trips to see Lincoln or the first Christmas
\nOnly forward.<\/p>\n
\nthen Spencer gifts
\nthen K-mart
\nOn sale this week only
\n(batteries not included)<\/p>\n
\nNo worry of junior sniffing out the hiding places.
\nWrap it,
\nput it where the tree will be and
\n\/zap\/
\nto December 24, 11:59 pm.<\/p>\n
\nNo need for a storage closet for sleds and lights and holiday socks
\nthe paperweights with Frosty and Rudolph
\naim your time-zapper, and
\n\/zap\/
\n\/zap\/
\n\/zap\/
\nthey’re gone,
\nback next December<\/p>\n
\n\/zap\/
\nDay after Christmas
\n\/zap\/
\nyour tree is already decorated next year.
\nthe hand-blown crystal creche
\n\/zap\/
\n(Don’t move the furniture!
\nThat table had better be in the same place next year!)<\/p>\n
\n\/zap\/
\nthe kids will love it in August,<\/p>\n
\n\/zap\/ themselves
\nto Christmas season, when there’s always work in retail.
\nChristmas over, Christmas layoffs,
\n\/zap\/
\nand they’re gone<\/p>\n
\nGrandma and Grampa, getting along in years,
\nwon’t be here too many more Christmasses
\nbut
\n\/zap\/
\nBesides, once a year
\nit’s sure cheaper than a home.<\/p>\n
\nweary of cheerless cheer
\ntired of malls
\nsick of Christmas lyrics ringing in our ears
\nwill,
\nat last,
\nescape.<\/p>\n
\nas heat fades
\ncat asleep on tabletop blanket
\nto my left
\nwife asleep too early
\nfew feet in front
\nsweet, perky
\ngood looking woman
\nstretched easy on couch
\ntoo much much inside her head
\nme awake in chair aware
\nI know naught of either
\nor any other
\nor me
\nyet suspect
\nshe got more flavors
\nthan I got neighbors
\na whole hood inside her house
\nwhere I but roustabout without
\nstanding, steadfast
\nstout
\nsafe harbor
\ndepth determined
\nno matter ice
\nof winter solstice
\nthis longest night of year<\/p>\n
\nAutumn waves her languid arms
\nSettling a twilight blanket of snow on the rolling hills
\nWhispering her farewell
\nSnowflakes fall tatting a layer of delicate lace
\nAtop the whitening landscape
\nHushed evening, stillness won
\nClouds drift
\nShadow dancing on the darkened sky
\nRevealing the Mona Lisa moon
\nThe shifting haze enlists moon and earth
\nTo engage in hide and seek
\nPlayful moonbeams awaken the billowing hillside
\nFlakes sparkle geometrically
\nHere then there
\nSporadic glimmer,
\nStars glisten a response
\nAnswering their now earthen sisters call
\nDispersing spirit\u2019s message
\nSnowflake twinkles to the south
\nNorthern star sparks a return
\nOrion releases his bow
\nIgniting a quick gleam below
\nUrsa major sparkles
\nColdscape east then west glint in reply
\nHeaven and earth speaking in crystalized Morse code
\nOn this the longest night
\nThey sing a prism verse
\nWithout voice
\nConverting light to faith
\nSolstice speaks
\nThrough the silence of the night\u2019s dream<\/p>\n