the national xmas tree

in a crowd of
hundreds, kids
and old people,
a mosh pit of
humanity bent
on being happy,
i remember you
shivering, wearing
mittens. what grown
woman wears mittens?
and your lips
were nearly blue,
almost as blue as
your indigo scarf
around your neck.
your teeth chattered.
you said that you
wished you had
a cigarette and
a beer while we
stood in line to
see the big tree
downtown lit up
on the mall.
you stamped your
feet with your snow
boots, and said
loudly, what the
hell is going on
with this fucking
line. come on people
move. jesus mary
and joseph. i started
laughing and you
said, what? they
need to look, take
a picture and move
on. you shook
your head and laughed
too. your eyes were
watering from being
so cold, you pulled
your white wool
hat down around
your ears, then said,
you know what, let's
just go. i know
something better
we can do.