Secret Boxes

By Elanur Williams

Christmas, I knew 
was a certain attitude. 
It was not colourful lights 
on plastic trees, 
clove-scented tea, 
or an evergreen wreath.  

It was more than that: 
an abundance of clementines 
in my grandmother’s green car, 
glass animals in tins 
of Red Rose tea. 

Sometimes it could be
the plastic tree,
candy cane ornaments, 
and those secret boxes
ever-wrapped, always
in vibrant, bold belief. 

Elanur Williams is a teacher who has taught in elementary schools and adult learning centers. She writes from New York, where she lives with her husband and daughter.