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When the Lights go on
by Kristina WoodhillCaldwell nights
Christmas lights
all along Indian Creek
Playfully lit paths highlight downtown
Small town tradition welcomes December
as bundled folk meander, gaping and gawking,
exclamations of wonderment flowing freely,
blending with the creek's nearby chortling and chuckling,
its shorelines radiant with holiday anticipation.
Stiffening mittens hug hot coco cups,
fingers lingering before offering steaming sips
Fuschia and purple trees pose on white trunks for clicking cameras
Multi-colored shrubs shimmer beside walking bridges,
dazzling and inviting strolling families and friends
to be wrapped inside them like gifts.
Here and there Winnie the Pooh silhouettes
climb a tree
pull a wagon
assist a train engineer – All aboard!
While small white plush teddy bears
ride a cheerfully lit carousel round-and-round,
tied tenderly on steady benches;
Try, childlike, bending into a small playhouse
with two opposing doors
Easy in and soon out the other side,
exit to the next enchantment,
a 50-foot-long green sea serpent
a-swim in the creek, gazing longingly
at a distant
tiny island of penguins.
Grown-ups with young tots dancing about
gaze down from all three bridges' railings,
and when no one is looking,
toss adult concerns and year-end-weary shouldered cargo
into the welcoming creek,
finding their inner child waiting and willing
December 19, 2017
12/18/2017 Author's Note: total rewrite
Posted on 12/18/2017
Copyright © 2024 Kristina Woodhill
| Member Comments on this Poem |
| Posted by Chris Sorrenti on 12/19/17 at 04:54 AM Colorful seasonable poem, Kris. Very nice. Merry Christmas and Season's Best to you and yours! |
| Posted by Glenn Currier on 12/20/17 at 12:08 AM Those last two stanzas! What a great idea and no better season to toss those cares... Sounds like a delightful meander of lights. Thanks for brightening things up for me on otherwise dreary, teary days, Kris. |
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