We went from etherness
to otherness
the instant when a single
careless word dis-
rupted our feeble truce,
a single word to open chasms
to let the secrets out;
and promises
were torn apart, the gifts
we burned for feuds
and later staring, smiling
in our egg-nog silence
excusing, starlorn,
startorn in a room of strangers.
and in the aftergloom
on Boxing Day
I thought about the plans we made
“Blood is thicker than water”,
I had said, suppressing
my anaphasia of every single
Christmas past;
Is this our doom, together,
torn apart to lace and ghosts?
Victor Hugo
Today Linda hosts at dVerse giving us 10 words to choose from the book The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrow by John Koenig.
Our family is not this dysfunctional.
December 14, 2021
Björn Rudbergs writings 
You have described some of the many reasons I do not like Christmas, Björn!
This is fabulous! I’m off to read it again.
I love this, Björn. The ghosts of Christmas past are not always Dickensian, offering redemption. If only they were!
Pax,
Dora
Love, love love this! Oh how those ghosts haunt us.
THIS is the kind of stuff I really like, absolutely brilliant start, first stanza, it brought the Balkans to me, and also the Caucasus region. Really good poetry.
Fantastic Bjorn. I can relate to the otherness and strangeness of christmas past and egg nog silence. I also love how you formed new words.
This says so much:
“later staring, smiling
in our egg-nog silence”
I’m glad you left a question at the end.
This is exquisitely drawn, Bjorn! I resonate with “egg-nog silence
excusing, starlorn, startorn in a room of strangers.”💝💝
Quite the lace, woven with all the sorrows. No wonder I was such a drunk
The last few lines feel very intoxicating in a type of loneliness and yet oddly seductive in a narrative push-pull of the past. Christmas, for many, can feel so depressing.
This hits hard, and it sticks with you. Human nature and circumstance often trump the Hallmark out of the holidays.
That final line is incredible. Great poem
I love that “egg nog silence”, Bjorn. Christmas is a complex time and you have captured that here…JIM
‘We went from etherness
to otherness
the instant when a single
careless word dis-
rupted our feeble truce,
a single word to open chasms
to let the secrets out;’
A single word can do that unfortunately! Great read!
I aspire to write poems as beautiful as yours, Björn
❤
David
eggnog silence hit home for christmas past for me. this is what is so good about dvesre getting to read such wonderfull poems.
This is flipping incredible. So many favorite phrases and sections.
“Lace & Ghosts” would be an excellent poetry-book title.
Oh wow! Such an amazing write. Each line reinforces the sadness.
You describe so well here what is for some a forced charade of celebration. I love the second stanza especially, and these lines:
“smiling in our egg-nog silence
excusing, starlorn,
startorn in a room of strangers.” 🙂
“and in the aftergloom
on Boxing Day
I thought about the plans we made”
Such a layered verse. My favourite
Much💟love
I can taste the eggnog silence (so thick!) in that starlorn, startorn room…
I also am struck by the final couplet, Bjorn. so much in a single word. ~
Too many expectations piled on top of too much past. Families! (K)
Your poem suits that Hugo image perfectly, Bjorn. I felt the alienation seeping from the beautiful exposition in this of the frailties the holiday season exposes, creating chasms even as it pretends to heal them–“a single word to open chasms/to let the secrets out;’ can explode a million conceits. Lace and ghosts, indeed.
I imagine that many family holiday gatherings end this way, in spite of any intentions beforehand.
A sad reality for many I fear. Those last two lines and the Victor Hugo drawing symbolise it so well.
Estrangement aftershocks with eggnog. I felt this. Thank you.