Telephones, Jingle Bells & The Ringing in My Ears

Christmas time...
The starry,twirly lights were strung on a potted plant wedged into the corner.
The house had dwindled from four feet and twenty paws to two feet and eight paws.
Piles of gifts sat around the tree, not in wrapping paper, but all in gift bags.
They didn't have tags, but yellow post-it notes.
'Mother.' '12 year old girl.' '10 year old girl.' '6 year old girl.'
I kept hearing the sound of little jingle bells & thought I must be going crazy.
The phone kept ringing, but I didn't want to answer it.
I followed the sound of the jingle...it always seemed to be coming from around the corner or just on the other side of the wall.
I answered the phone once.
I looked in the bathroom & the kitchen.
I answered the phone a hundred times.
I looked in the gift bags and on the front porch.
I unplugged the phone.
I looked in the trunk and on the floorboard.
The phone stopped ringing.
The little brass jingle bells continued to ring.
In my world, the collectors stopped calling & the holiday spirits rang on.
Five months later, I plugged the home phone back in and went to bed.
I awoke at 4:22 am to the faint sound of jingle bells.
I went back to sleep, finding peace in the jingles.
At 9:02 am....r-r-r-ring, r-r-r-ring, r-r-ring.
The Collectors & the Peace Keepers.

Artwork by my beautiful sister,Singleton of The Hippie Parade & Just Give Me Peace.