A Million Little Things

The holidays are a box of chocolates -
You sample and analyze each flavor
Rolling the sweet around inside your mouth
Like a connoisseur of fine wines
All except for that one flavor you never liked
Your little sister can have that one

The holidays are frosted window panes
Down on Main Street in the evening
You press your face against the cool glass
And stare at the festive displays
Arranged like artifacts in some wonderful museum
Taken straight out of your sweetest dreams

The holidays are strands of multi-color tinsel
Draped haphazardly on a plastic fir tree
That is a little shabbier than it used to be
But is still the most beautiful tree in the whole world
Because it glitters and glows in the corner of your living room
Where it stands like a steadfast toy soldier

The holidays are the scent of freshly baked cookies
Plucked from the oven and left to cool
On the kitchen counter beside a snowman made of cotton balls
It is the way your father always steals a cookie
“Just testing it for poison,” he says, as he nibbles away
And your mother swats at his thieving hand, but still smiles

The holidays are chilly noses and rosy cheeks
And the way hot cocoa spreads inside your belly
Like a warm blanket that covers you from head to toe
The holidays are a million little magical things
Each falling to earth like a glistening snowflake
Until the whole world sparkles under the light of the winter moon