Last night
My wife saw me crying
While falling asleep
Watching TV
From an old cartoon
I had treasured
Enjoying with mom
Every year

As the characters sang
About innocence
And believing in things
We can’t witness
But love even more
Than what’s tangible
Like all great times
Which have passed

Just killing me now
Looking backwards
Missing those days
On our couches
Feeling so sick
Yet excited
When sharing that time
Spent alone

One Christmas Eve
Long ago
Being merely content
Hearing music
Claymation dolls
Would exhibit
On analog screens
Humming low

Knowing how youth
Barely lasts
Soon fearing each age
Still before us
Awaiting God’s threat
Always counting
Towards something worse
Never clear

That December brings
Much too close
Where veils thin more
Between memories
Echoing loud
Over futures
This present agrees
May not come.

• J. Pigno