My Cardboard Balcony

Beneath the Mistletoe by Belinda Roddie Beneath the mistletoe, I'm cloaked in green and red, the smell of sweets and candy cane drifting by the most gorgeous girl I've seen all by herself beside the window pane. Her golden hair glistening in the frost and rosy cheeks lit up next to the pine, her eyes are closed - indeed, the girl seems lost within her thoughts as friends dance in a line around the Christmas tree. I wait for her to let her eyelids flutter back above her sapphire pupils as she, unperturbed, gazes at me below the leaves of love. Outside, the snow is gath'ring in the mist. I mouth to her, "Come here for one more kiss."

Hurry, hurry, hurry! The festival is about to start! Ryan pulls on his socks and runs out all a flurry, wool cap pulled over his ears. Hurry, hurry, hurry! He grabs a slice of buttered and jam-ed bread to eat. His mother waits for him by the door. Outside, the sky is lit with greens and reds. Ribbons streak the air and across windows. Old men dance in the street and girls toss coins to clowns and acrobats. And everywhere, the sweet, sweet smell of cinnamon.