ho ho and ho

you have an extra five
minutes on your
hands so you decorate
your house for Christmas
before betty comes over.
this involves reaching
into the drawer and
pulling out a string
of lights which have
been there since last
year. you delicately
lay them across the buffet
and plug them in. then you
go into the basement
and carry up your already
lighted and tinseled
white tree made out
of Chinese plastic.
there are several silver
balls still hanging
onto the flimsy limbs.
it stands about two feet
tall, so it's easy
to carry.
you plug this in too
once setting it on a side
table. you have a red
candle that smells
strongly of cinnamon,
making you sneeze,
but you like it, so
that goes on the table too,
next to a bowl of mixed nuts.
you take the wreathe of fake
cranberries that has been
hanging on a nail
in the laundry room
and you hang
that on the front door.
finally you tack in
lots of mistletoe
over each doorway
entrance. you can never
have enough of that.
then you pop in some andy
Williams music,
followed by dean
and frank, mix up
some egg nog, heavy
on the rum, then
sit down in the big
easy chair. you are
ready for Christmas.
you wait for betty
to arrive who loves
Christmas almost as much
as you do.