I’ll never forget the

Christmas our parents

told us that, because

***

it had been a hard year,

financially, we could only

ask for one present each

***

So, that Christmas, all

that I asked for were

scarlet ribbons.

***

Pretty scarlet ribbons for my hair.

***

And come Christmas morning,

I got them, too. And they

were as beautiful as you may imagine.

***

My sister got a

new computer, though,

and, suddenly,

I realized what

I fool I’d been.

***

Stupid ribbons.

---

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

IN this undated photo, Our Founder, deep in contemplation, relaxes by a warm fire, smoking a pretend pipe, and wondering, perhaps, what became of his actual pipe.

They say you can’t

really know a man

until you spend

a day in his shoes.

***

But what of the man

who refuses to let

me wear his shoes?

***

And what of the man

who then threatens

physical violence

after I attempt to

remove his shoes anyway?

***

Can we ever really know that man?

***

No, probably not.

***

At least, not without

those shoes.

---

The Couch Elf by Mary Cellini

©2021

---