Why must I only
See family in dreams?

This sleep
Resumes precious remembrance
Of what beauty now falls
Far behind me
Like these visions alive
After dark –

A Christmas long gone
Caught forever
Where presents stay wrapped
Under branches
And those twinkling lights
Offer solace
Beginning with rest
Late at night

As their whispers trail off
Without semblance
When each speaker’s voice
Becomes muddled
Amidst fading laughs
Growing vaguer
Though morning still creeps
Very close.

“Getting almost old”
They will tell me,

Waking up so soon
Nearly thinking
How tomorrow seems wrong
Knowing yesterday
Was harder to face
Than before.

Just let me rejoin
Every party  
Or feast held since
High above me,

Letting uncles and aunts
Laugh with grandmas
While grandpas toast
Distant stars.

There is happiness
Waiting beyond us
Outside my trance
Beneath eyelids,

Between bedsheets
Housing our heaven
For its briefest stay
Slumber brings.

• J. Pigno