Whatever it is
it’ll be no good for your throat,
especially if it was tinsel. Imagine it
tangled around your tonsils
on Christmas morning. Stopping you
from saying kind things to ears
you want in your house, eating a knuckle
of blue cheese with raspberry jam,
swallowing your homemade mulled wine
with the final After Eight Mint
and the sinking sensation that Christmas
is often no more than the press
of a pause button.

Carl Burkitt 2023