“Trailer Park Christmas”

c.2020 Rod Ice

All rights reserved

(12-20)

Christmas in the trailer park

Rusty trucks

Down on our luck

But finding cheer in a macro beer

I battled with the wages of sin

My wife was gone

And our friends, I think

Draw the curtains over the sink

Plastic wreaths in the window

Cheer and carols in the snow

Tattered flags and shopping bags

Blowing across the yard

Times are hard

What would Oscar Wilde observe

About this huddled herd?

This dim dump of humanity

Far from the echo of sacred screeds

Naked

Knocking like a loose rail

Like the whip of a horses’s tail

Taco Bell will never fail

To grace our parties

With cloned Uber Eats

Kids playing in the street

Potholes

Empty soles

Money sent from the government

For which we vote

The end of days

“That’s all she wrote!”

I watched a kid trudge through the snow

To get the mail left for tomorrow

Tears and toil

Water on the boil

The pipes were compromised

Heat it hot

Until the bacteria dies

Under cloudy skies

We live and love and learn

The meaning of life to discern

While bonfires burn

Pallet wood in the neighborhood

J. D. Vance wrote ‘Hillbilly Elegy’

A timely tome of going home

But I wonder what was missed

In that moment twixt the cup and lip

Did I slip?

To honestly reflect

Fail to protect

Sat here with my beer

My slide toward the floorboards

Dipping

Dunking

Dropping down to the depths

Frozen pizza and lost self respect

Both fleeting in their favor

A brief reward of flavor

Then the empty charm of a tattooed arm

Waving in the night

Chasing dogs with a flashlight

Across the fields

Where desperation is the yield

Of a life spent in blue-collar labor

Though it was my place

To be in charge

A retail boss

A prancing hoss

Always conscious of from where I came

Hobbling down the aisles with my cane

A steady steward

With good intentions

A wayward son

Back to the park when my day was done

Lou Reed and Apollo Creed

Ricky, Bubbles and Julian

Mr. Lahey

Randy Bobandy

I came home from my ‘real job’ day

Stopped to get my mail, right away

Had a brew at the box

Pulled up my socks

Enjoyed a second in the seat

On the way round home came number three

Beverage four as I reached the front door

Pets barking

Neighbors wondering

How had I been gone so long?

While they spent the night

Playing virtual cornhole and drinking Bud Light

I sat alone in my house on blocks

With a dinner of pizza in a box

Pondering Ezra Cornell and how far I fell

From the Finger Lakes

To a great mistake

Busted, broken, bent

On my knees, sure to repent

Reading the tale that Dickens sent

No telephone ring

No spouse to bring

Hope and happy tidings of this day

This celebration wherein we pray

My family has gone away

I’ll stay up all night

Drinking Lite

Dabbling in the art of prose

On the couch

Sleeping in my clothes

The King of Kings is on his throne

I’ll make amends

With earthy friends

But late tonight

With Santa’s sleigh in flight

I’ll not be deterred

Scholars, scriptures

Lift up these words on holy stones

Call for inspiration on the telephone

This night is not mine alone

At an eastern tract by the county line

I live on those dreams of a life divine

Greater than this shell of flesh

Where I fail to soar

In my 4x4

My family has said it before

“You wasted your talent!”

Barely paying the rent

I gave consent

To their critiques

By bowing my head

Letting them speak

A ring of truth was in the air

I reckoned they were wiser still

And I, a stale slab of roadkill

Yet here today with cheery vibes

Goodwill to all throughout the night

I raise a toast to decide

My path is not a downhill slide

Instead this walk of faith is just

Forever I have believed

That the spark of God is inside of me

However faulty is my shell

A loving sire

Would not condemn me to Hell

So with Christmas close at hand

I look around at Trailerland

Schult and Patriot

Champion, Crest, Buccaneer

In my chair with a can of pilsner

My foes are mighty

But I do not fear

It’s Christmas Day in the trailer court

St. Nick laughs, and reindeer snort

This is what I came here for

Redemption ritual

My belly is full

Of Doritos and drink

And the thoughts I think

While giving my grateful appeal

For this house on wheels

My pre-fab hut, I’m in a rut

Not down and out but glad for grace

A citizen of the community

In this humble place

Written on my iPhone SE