Holiday Spirit

by Albert Quail, 2002

fat

with a loud distinctive
laugh

never too social but always
kind

he spent his childhood without
toys
without friends, playing quietly in the
snow

hiding cookies in his jacket
dreaming
he'd travel (by sled) around the world
giving
all the good children
toys

and eventually he
did

and still, no one
cares

and still, no one
believes

and now, as he reads the countless
letters
he is disgusted by the desperate
greed
and suddenly, he
realizes
he no longer believes in
himself