Tinsel

Some memories

take so long to fade

They are made of people

who have passed through

my life

or gave it to me

I want them all with me

now

around some live tree

covered in lights

still attached

to its roots

much as I am

to the people

who were mine

Please help me celebrate

Your darkness must

become the light

my life once had

after many years

filled with grief

too many lost

to age or sickness

Oh glorious light

push away the darkness

make a wall

that gradually expands

enough for breath

to reach my lungs

while they draw

their life into me

I am ready to smile

despite every ache

and darkest memory

which colors its black

beyond the lines

I was told to stay within

Come my friends

come to me again

if only

in a dream's reflection

your smiles

mirrored on Christmas

that sees everything now

with a library of strands

that hang into this future

when I can see

the wisdom of tinsel

Barry G. Wick