Tell Me Christmas

something happened

again and again
and each time
it was like
it could be the end

he said
he felt
that she
demeaned him
she certainly found
that he tore her apart
he'd do it
and she'd do it back
a tennis match
they ate each other

most days
were up and down
vistas
till out of reach
endless beaches
spread
from the morning
like eternities
and this or that
would happen
glad things
and bad things
and things indifferent
endless beach
till I'd stub my toe
on a rock
or on fate
clack
a sudden sound
of accident
everything's changed
and you can't
go back


for Christmas
daddy came in
dressed like Santa Claus
he ho ho hoed
and pulled a shotgun
from his Santa's sack
blam
the whole universe
exploding
he shot the fugging turkey
kabaff

what do you do
for an encore
after something like that?
well he doused
the Christmas tree
in kerosene
and burned down
the house

and I sit here
and wonder
what happened
to me

tell me Christmas