as I stand under the Capitol Christmas tree
wedged between Mama Alice and Mom.
All my favorite things are here:
the scent of frozen earth
of pine and cedar
the tangle of light flung
onto the snow like stars
the darkness ringing with cheery song
and my momsback together again
after a year of tumult and separation
resolved to make their marriage work.
And this tree—it’s not the biggest or the brightest—
it’s not like the ones that tower and bend toward me
like protective ancestors when I hike a new trail.
It’s not as flashy or grand as the one in downtown Chicago
where we used to live, but it is giving off an
anything-can-happen-if-you-just-believe-in-it
kind of shine.
And we live here now, in Lansing
with its small-town, cozy vibes
Mom with her new faculty position at Michigan State
Mama Alice with her very own art studio
in the sunniest corner of our slightly lopsided
robin’s-egg-blue house
Me in my senior year of high schoolthe promise of
graduation and new adventure
like a river rushing through my days.
And this seasonmy favorite season
is a place for all of us to begin again
to make new tracks in fresh snow.
