Twelfth Night

Down from the window take the withered holly.
Feed the torn tissue to the literal blaze.
Now, now at last are come the melancholy
Anticlimatic days.

Here in the light of morning, hard, unvarnished,
Let us with haste dismantle the tired tree
Of ornaments, a trifle chipped and tarnished,
Pretend we do not see

How all the rooms seem shabbier and meaner
And the tired house a little less than snug.
Fold up the tinsel. Run the vacuum cleaner
Over the littered rug.

Nothing is left. The postman passes by, now,
Bearing no gifts, no kind or seasonal word.
The icebox yields no wing, no nibbled thigh, now,
From any holiday bird.

Sharp in the streets the north wind plagues its betters
While Christmas snow to gutters is consigned.
Nothing remains except the thank-you letters,
Most tedious to the mind,

And the gift gadget (duplicated) which is
Marked for exchange at Abercrombie-Fitch’s.

Phyllis McGinley (1905 – 1978)

Well, today the Feast of the Epiphany, a.k.a the twelfth day of Christmas, which means it's the last day of this year's Advent poetry fest. I hope you all enjoyed it! And if you didn't, well, too bad. Maybe you'll like next year's better.