You received my parcel

on Christmas Eve,

plain

brown envelope

on the outside, nothing

to distinguish it from

the ray of beauty you told me

it contained when you opened it.

The stated fact that you opened it

at all meant a lot to me,

you could have just

left it on the table

and away from your tree;

decorated tastefully

but still something

you take down

and forget by

 January the sixth.

Ian D. Hall 2016