Christmas Smile

Age seven and I woke up at sunrise,

Jumping up and down, up and down, up and down on my parents bed,

The look of excitement dancing in my eyes,

It’s Christmas, It’s Christmas! was all that needed to be said.

The plate of cookies is now full of crumbs,

And the milk is halfway gone,

I would smile, knowing Santa liked the cookies I spent hours making,

With my mom and my dad, making sure I didn’t make a mess.

Hands shaking with joy, as I shook random presents,

That weren’t allowed to be opened until after Christmas Breakfast,

The pancakes, the eggs, and the muffins, and juice,

It was tedious, waiting for my parents who were taking all day,

Whereas I was about to break the chair staring at the Christmas Tree,

Surrounded by the magical presents of different shapes and designs,

Finally my parents had enough of all my impatience and whines.

And I ripped off the paper of Santa’s biggest present of all,

My heart pounding with excitement when I found a new toy,

The toy that I’ve wanted, standing four feet tall,

That I circled in magazines, and hung on the wall,

Santa knew, Santa knew I would chant as I danced,

Spinning and spinning---I was a twister, and quickly tore open the rest of the gifts,

Leaving wrapping paper covering the floor, making it impossible to walk through.

Age sixteen and I woke up at eight,

Taking time to put on my slippers and brush my hair,

Compared to then, waking up at this time was late,

And my younger brother was already down there,

Shaking his presents from Santa and guessing what was inside,

While I glanced at the scene, and sat to the side.

Hungry for breakfast, I helped my parents cook,

The pancakes were fluffy, and the eggs were still hot,

And I eagerly sat at the table to eat, while my brother already finished what he took,

He was shaking the table, and admiring the pile of the gifts a whole lot.

When we finished, I helped clean up,

And my brother was whining and clutched his first present close to him,

As I walked in slowly, with hot chocolate in a cup,

My energy for Christmas has drained, and the excitement was dim,

But I still smiled as I watched my brother’s smile spread across his face,

Still thinking that Santa carried all these gifts through the night on his sled,

And I still laughed as he opened presents as if it were a race,

Even though I wish I still had that Christmas smile,

The one I haven’t had in a while.