"Thanks be to God for his unspeakable gift."
2 Corinthians 9:15
What's so good as
getting?
The anticipation,
snow
in the air, people
with lists,
voices that drop when
you
enter the room, the
pine-wood
fire smell and the
smell of pine needles from the trimmed tree
by the window – it
all narrows down
to the heft of the
package in the
hands, the wondering,
the unwrapping
(Careful – the
paper's too pretty
to tear), the oh, the
ah. What's
so good as getting
if not giving?
The covert questions,
the catalogs
with corners turned
back, the love
that overlooks cost,
the hiding place
in the hamper, the
card whose
colored words can't
say it all,
the glee of linking
want/wish
with have/hold, the
handing over,
fingers burshing, the
thing
revealed, the spark
as the eyes
meet, and the hug.
What's
so good as giving?
