“We’ve Only Just Begun a New Romance”

It’s official . . . I received the letter today, angel
Santa’s announced he’s not visiting us this year,
Somewhere along the way we lost our values
It says we don’t deserve that he come by here

We stopped talking caringly, the letter states
We buried the very reason we came together,
Cherishment somehow gave way to callousness
We buckled under the storms we had to weather

We no longer look into the other’s face
As if eye contact would bear some hidden truth,
The notes I would send whimsically—they waned
Small slights, like mixed drinks without the vermouth

Why did we allow work to seep into our night-calm?
The poems I’d write and read to you bedside,
They somehow became fewer and fewer between
Strangers in whom secrets we would no longer confide

Why did we become so comfortable with indifference?
Compliments having become a sadly missing link,
Our laughable witticisms devolved into criticisms
Our agreement: Your blown kiss would meet my wink…

…we broke that promise to ourselves, didn’t we, angel?
Your telling me my ears are big and my gargle too loud,
Giggling to your girls that my foot size is clownlike
and my car on its third paint job . . . of it I’m too proud

My frequent complaints of your overlong showers
and driving your vehicle to a near-constant gasless state,
Date nights became second to your outings with girlfriends
Is there a wonder emotional distance became our fate?

“Why haven’t you hugged each other just because…?”
I can hear Santa’s disappointed voice,
A simple “hello hug,” to say nothing of a snug
Silently questioning whether we made the right choice

In one another . . . did we lose faith in the other?
Buying gifts at Christmas more out of duty than honor,
Emptily trying to outdo the one given last season
Santa says Rudolph saw right through us, as did Donner

And all his reindeer companions they’re all saddened
They don’t recognize the couple once before in love,
We’ve forgotten the meaning of gift-giving, they lament
So no sleigh bells will be ringing from the nightsky above

Gosh, how we’ve let down St. Nick this holiday season
Even sadder is how we’ve seemingly quit on ourselves,
How is it that we’ve underappreciated our home
Is it broken beyond repair even for Santa’s elves?

Search your heart, woman, and I’ll search mine
Do we really wanna surrender our love for good?
Shame on you and twice shame on me
But if there remains nothing, then perhaps we should

I read the letter thrice—morning, noon, and dusk
I had to come to terms with the man written about,
Am I the one who still does it for you?
If so, I need you to give me a shout-out

I’m still the depository of your fears and dreams
That trustworthy lover who hasn’t gone astray,
If we’re guilty of having taken us for granted
Why don’t we harken back to that first holiday

The skimpy looking tree clad in little decor
We could hardly afford orns our just starting out,
But stringing popcorn was fun with the mouth toss
Isn’t that what Christmastime should be about?

We were our gift, appears to be Santa’s message
What do you say we go back to the future?
Our romance still lives in every bit of me
We can start from scratch or apply a gentle suture

To the wounds we gave ourselves out of apathy
We owe one another a rekindled romance,
Let’s begin a new chapter in our shared journey
We’ve only just begun this second chance

Snowfall is in effect; I’m building a cedar fire
The blanket is ready and eggnog laced with rum,
A romantic winter event called Pamper-Her-Friday
If we cherish one another, Santa just may come….

(Are you smiling? Of course you are. Lol.)

-Rg2

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The gift of romance for the holidays. -Rg2

© 2016 Pamper-Her-Friday by Rg2®