Skipping out on Christmas
Who cares if it is dark and dismal
and the weather is abysmal.
Why don’t we leave and take a walk.
We need to have a little talk.
If we’re lucky we might get lost
in this weather tempest-tossed
and have to find a little pub
to loft a glass and eat some grub.
Sure, at home the food is free,
but at home is also family!
Grandpa’s drunk and Grandma’s scolding.
Mother’s busy triple-folding
napkins into Christmas trees
and worrying Aunt Beck will sneeze
into the cranberries again,
‘cuz bird without them is a sin.
The kids are wrestling and biting,
as usual, their acts inciting
scolding mother, shouting father.
I always wonder why they bother
to gather every holiday?
Once all the tawdry facts I weigh,
I wonder why they come together
every year, despite the weather.
So come on. Put your muffler on.
They’ll barely notice that we’re gone.
We won’t be yelled at, questioned, bossed.
I’ll pay the bill, whate’er the cost.
I need that extra Christmas cheer
that can be purchased beer by beer,
as we ponder that conundrum dumb
of why, each year, we also come!
Here are the prompt words and links:
https://ragtagcommunity.wordpress.com/2018/11/27/rdp-tuesday-walk/
https://fivedotoh.com/2018/11/27/fowc-with-fandango-leave/
https://wordofthedaychallenge.wordpress.com/2018/11/27/dismal/
https://onedailyprompt.wordpress.com/2018/11/27/your-daily-word-prompt-lost-November-27-2018/
lifelessons - a blog by Judy Dykstra-Brown 
that is well done including all those prompts. enjoyed reading this familiar image of similar times.
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At some point or another I think we all wish to ‘skip out’. I like your tree! 🙂
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This is the tree of my friends Harriet and Paul last year.
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Fortunately, I’ve never experienced family holidays that match your description, Judy. I’ve heard about them, though, and always feel sorry for people who do not have truly warm and loving family gatherings. I guess I was privileged to have and to cherish a large extended family. Wonderful memories, but I always feel sad around holidays to have had and lost something special.
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I, also, have always loved my family gatherings. This is a work of pure fiction, Dolly!
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I understand, but I’ve heard so many people express the same feelings you have described in your poem. I suppose you and I are fortunate!
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Yes. My family was outgoing but not too eccentric. They just had fun during holidays.
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Isn’t it great to have wonderful memories of families getting together? I miss mine, though.
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Me, too.
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Cute, cute, cute and I love the tree!
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