Patty Nash

December 16

I’ll meet you
At the market
This Christmas
In the leeway
Patrons gnash
Something
The liberal
Doesn’t eat,
Too sweet
She says,
While a child
Bungees out
A felt hat
And spins around
A snout
And whiskers
And two eyes
That are buttons
That peer
At the emergent
Common theme
It all flags
Somewhere next
Year beside
A spot throngs
Don’t stand
But squat, rather
Lean
Against the trunk
By the swinging
Grill that
Looks vaguely
Dangerous, doesn’t
It? They’re used
To it
All the regions
With their wursts
Brandied mandibles
Like cowlicks
It slowly dawns
On Nadja
Scandinavia’s
Suggested in red
And white,
Blue and yellow,
Just like silvester,
When the leader
Traipses under
A neighbor’s terrasse
And a bottle
Of champagne lands
On his head
I’d like to speak
To the person
Responsible
For that
But he can’t
He’s asleep
Too much
Going on
At the hospital
This time of year
Two days later
He came to
He told me
In confidence
Knowing we’d meet
Again
There was a secret
Reason
Well, wouldn’t it be
Nice to see each other
Splice a firewood
In two
Like the ad did
I kept being
Served it
The ingenuity
Of the contraption
I’m sure
Most useful
To our forebears
I’d take it
As a gift
Remember what
Your grandfather
Said about gifts?
Yes
It’s synonymous
But like cyan
It takes time
To consider
And defer
To the indefinite
Well, or the parallel
In which I live
In Texas
That’s where I
Grow up
To add to that
What about Waco
So quaint now
Do they have
Egg liquor there
I mean
Advocaat
A traditional beverage
Made from eggs,
Sugar and brandy?
No
They have
Delightful parents
And dutiful children
And houses