A cold December evening

Cold, yes, but warm.

A communion of scattered siblings and their makers

Rejoicing in the scent of toddies and cinnamon.

Gifts are exchanged,

Reminders of devotion and gratitude.

That exclusive familial love

Gives life to our brittle bones

All is well.

then--

A brother and his passionate wife

A mother and her impassioned nature

Become warships of jealousy and hatred

Gunfire spewing out of them

Bursts of empty, heavy words

Reminders of irreconcilable differences

Colliding and jarring until all is tears and innocence is lost.

Driving away into the December dusk

All is hell.