little by little

Every ornament still hangs on our Christmas tree

when the sun goes down the bubble lights still shine

 rolls of wrapping paper are leaning against my nightstand

amy grant's has not left her home in our cd player

and I'm beginning to wonder how long it will take me to

get the nativities back in the styrofoam forms,

the lights untangled from the branches

the pine cones and fake snow back into ziploc bags...

I am taking an early week of class this week and 

my exhaustive studies about the Romans and Greeks have been my 

excuse to enjoy the Christmas ambiance and evergreen candles 

a little while longer