Evelyn Klebert

I’ve gotten lost
in the cracks and fissures,
gotten lost in the scrambling about.
I’ve gotten lost
in the madness and the crush
in the whirl of how I thought things should be.
I’ve gotten lost in my long lists
and my efforts to create an image.
An image whose stress is so stripped of truth and peace.
I’ve gotten lost in trying to keep up
with all I have to do.
And I’ve let Christmas pass me by.
I’ve forgotten that’s it’s gentle and loving and about spreading happiness.
I’ve forgotten how to keep Christmas well.
but thankfully
I’ve remembered.

They make us delirious,
they make us despondent,
so highly predictable
inflexible, unyielding.
Happy little pictures,
joyful illusions,
that upon first glance seem quite harmless,
until life hits a bump,
takes an unexpected bend,
and we move so far afield from where we thought we’d be.
Happy little promises,
expectations all lined in a row,
joyful, beguiling, merciless in their thorny grip,
suffocating as they bind us,
and so exhilarating when we finally let them go.