The Spirit of Christmas
he always
always
brought me
a tin of chocolates
at Christmastime
that he’d meticulously
made
he loved to watch my reaction
on that first bite
making sure they were jest as good
as last year
after some persuasion
he gave up the recipe
and one day
I made some
and followed his instructions to a T
course they didn’t turn out
quite like his did
the taste was off
and I called him and told him that
he jest laughed as if he knew a secret
his chocolates had a certain quality
and over time, he had perfected the taste
and texture
whipping up batch after batch
in his country kitchen
he made so many happy
with his kindness and grace
at the last get-together at my house
over the summer
I was able to tell him
how much his chocolates meant to me
standing there in front of the refrigerator
I told him how those chocolates of his
helped get me through some tough times
how I’d stand there at the refrigerator
in the middle of the night
when I couldn’t sleep …
soothed by chocolate
thank you, Joe Frank, … I’ll miss you …
especially at Christmas – always, always at Christmas
(March 16, 1939 – October 27, 2021)
TL