Card #4: Discarded ft. Patti La Belle

Patti La Belle

‘Tis the season to be jolly

But how can I be when I have nobody?

A silent night, I know it’s gonna be

Joy to the world but it’s gone be sad for me

                             Patti La Belle,

                             What Do The Lonely Do At Christmas?

‘This is December!’

Said the kid with the stainless steel bowl.

‘This is December!’

He repeated, as if to confirm the elementary deduction.

‘And I can’t quite recall the last time I was with family.’

The cold twilit December draft dug its claws into his flesh

That tainted Christmas Eve. 

‘I wish I had a family.

‘God, I wish I had a cat, a dog . . .

‘Some pet to keep me company,’

The beggar boy moaned.

But all he had was his stainless steel bowl

And the enthusiastic voices chanting carols

As he filled his spot on the stoop

Of the Church of St. Luke.

Eneh