Christmas Lights

i take out the box

of Christmas decorations

from the attic

and start sorting

through the jumbled mess

of ornaments,

angel hair, globs of tinsel,

snow globes,

and wind up music

boxes.

when did i buy all these

reindeer figurines?

at the bottom are

strings of lights.

some for the tree,

some for

the outside railing,

some to just to lay around

the window

sills, or counter tops,

whatever.

i say a non Christmas

word under

my breath

and take the bundle

of lights out

of the box.

i only have three months

to untangle them,

which may be harder than

Chinese algebra.

i'm not sure

that's enough time.

where's the egg nogg

and rum, i say to my

friend, Betty, who's dressed

in a red and green elf

outfit. 

we have work to do.