Lights in the shape of trees, in the shape of snowflakes
Lights like windows, like songs that silently sing me along
Lights like dances, like an alphabet aswirl, such wordless joy

down sidewalks, past houses

such colorful perching
                              orange
                                        green  blue
           red     yellow         purple                 silver

Lights of reindeer and stars, of rising and falling  
following fence lines and eaves and porches
         doorways and angels and sleds

Lights that tell me
          You are not alone
          despite death         despite cold

          You would not see us so well if it weren’t so dark
                      the darker the brighter!

Lights that say
          You will never not find your way

                                        such shining   

So when I get home I go down into my basement
and bring up a tangled strand
a rainbow of oval bulbs from my childhood

and string them across my dark porch   
                                                   such brightness

such happiness I feel sitting here


© by Marilyn Annucci.
Used here with the author’s permission.