HOLIDAY SCENES*

In her uncle’s house
Colors pale with winter sun
The small child threads her way
Among the grownups,
Weaving them together
In the loose fabric of love

At the festive table
The same dishes, the same
Cloth, the same food
Tie us with annual bonds
To other holidays
And to those whose chairs are empty.

We take turns being the child who learns,
The capable parent,
The grateful grand parent,
And the endower of the empty chair

* “Poem written by a friend after I told him that I had set the dining room table with the chair for Jack the Thanksgiving after he died.” – Linda