Shakespeare I am not, but I’ll take a stab (Et tu, Brute?) at a Christmas Sonnet. With a rhyme scheme of abab-cdcd-efef-gg and an iambic pentameter beat that gathers momentum as it rolls toward the finish, this poem is my reflection on the ways we do – and don’t – spend the holiday season. May each of you be blessed today with peace, rest, Alka-Seltzer, Epsom salts, a cozy afghan, and some time for yourself.
CHRISTMAS RUSH
Shopping with my belly full of turkey,
its bony carcass cooling in the roaster
Tryptophan has left me less than perky
but deals abound on TV sets and toasters
Stringing up the lights, the ladder rocking,
trying to outshine the neighbors’ twinkle
Putting up the tree and hanging stockings
Icing homemade cookies, adding sprinkles
Stuffing one-rate packages to bursting
Typing out my annual newsletter
Racing to the postal counter, first thing,
and waiting in the snaking line forever
Until the twenty-fifth, it’s GO, GO, GO!
No time to sit and simply watch it snow
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JUST JOAN 42 
Bravo Joan! Sonnets are challenging. Merry Christmas my dear! I hope everything’s wonderful your way.
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Thanks, KE! Had a lovely quiet Christmas at home. Hope all is well with you and yours. All the best in 2017! 🙂
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Just finished a sumptuous dinner but dessert definitely now pushing towards Alka- Seltzer.
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We ended up with a broken oven and got take-out from our favorite Indian restaurant, even desserts! No dishes or pots and pans to wash. Hallelujah! 🙂
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Don’t want to think about cleaning 😣
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Merry Christmas!🎄
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Hope your Christmas was relaxing… all the best to you and yours in 2017! 🙂
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Thanks! Wishing you all the best for the new year! 🙂
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There’s nothing like an old-fashioned English sonnet for Christmas. Stirs up an old-time mood. I hope you finally get a chance to relax today, and over the next week.
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Old-fashioned, like chestnuts roasting on an open fire, stringing popcorn and cranberries, fishing an orange and some horehound candy out of your stocking… but we didn’t do any of that. The oven broke. We had take-out food from our favorite Indian place. Instant hot chocolate with a heavy dose of Kahlua. TV. Just let go, relax, and roll with it. Hope your Christmas was dreamy and your new year is outta sight. 🙂
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I thank ye for thy kind thoughts.
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Oh, and Merry Christmas, Joan!
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…and tomorrow all the sales start!
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Oh, joy! Ain’t no sale big enough to get me off this couch! Happy Hanukkah to you and your family. Hope I spelled that right… seems like there should be a “C” in there somewhere, but Google doesn’t agree. 🙂
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Yes, sometimes starts with a CH but it seems as if any way is acceptable.
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Joan, I think you nailed it. Geez, it surely is a stressful time of year. I hope you had a lovely Christmas, I’m rather low key these days 😀
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Thanks, Lana. I try to limit it to just the things that are meaningful to me, but it’s still a lot of work. Christmas was a bit unorthodox, but quite lovely. Next time it snows, I will be watching and drinking a huge mug of hot chocolate. Joy and peace to you in the New Year! 🙂
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I hope you get some lovely snow and downtime to enjoy it! Happy New Year and much joy and peace to you also, Joan 😀
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Nice job! I know how hard these things are to write. And we sure are on the same wavelength when it comes to pre-Christmas busy-ness. Hope you had a nice one and Happy New Year!
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Well I guess, that’s why we call it the silly season and regardless that we know its excesses, we keep doing it again. A sonnet is one way to keep you in check ha!ha! Well done Joan! Sounds like you had s stress free Christmas 😀
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Thanks, Chev. Always a pleasure to strike a chord with someone who understands exactly what I’m trying to say. My Christmas was non-traditional and wonderful, a lovely break after an exhausting season. 🙂
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Sometimes, the non-traditional are the best of times when you look back. I remember last year, spending New year’s eve in a tired old town where there was not much to do and we all went to bed well before Midnight. But this was a break in our road trip to Cape Town where we had an awesome time. Sleeping early was a necessary prelude to the rest of our experience😀
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I wrote a humorous Easter sonnet a few years ago:
I bought a darling hat
To wear on Easter day
But when I stopped to chat
The wind blew it away
It rose above the trees
And up into the sky–
It almost seemed to me
That little hat could fly.
The last I saw my bonnet
It was wrapped in telephone wire
And so I wrote this sonnet
Before it could go any higher
And next year, I’m afraid,
I’ll be going hatless to the Easter parade!
(Checking out all of your blog posts after attending the poetry workshop at Fairborn!)
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So glad to see you here, Teresa! WELCOME to JJ42 and thanks for the comment! I love your Easter sonnet… I’m guessing the hat made a clean getaway? I lost a lot of winter hats as a kid… they didn’t fly, just plunked to the ground and got lost in the snow. A white scarf, too. By the time it melted, the items were long forgotten. Mittens never got away though, my mom attached them to a string that went through the arms of my coat. If the day warmed up, they just hung there like limp little hands, LOL. 🙂
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