Does He Know It's Christmas (Poetry)

He sits there in his usual chair
TV droning on
but he could be virtually anywhere
there is no telling how far back
his mind goes wandering
his sparse conversation has too few milestones
that give reliable clues
to thought’s way-out-in-the-misty-hills location

He wears his festive paper hat
out of a just-pulled cracker
and eats his warmed-up chicken dinner
like an obedient five-year-old
eyes on the screen and spilling gravy on himself
oblivious of his childlike clumsiness
it’s impossible to guess if he’s aware
today is Christmas

You’d think the nearby twinkling tree
might give the game away
but if he sees it, the connection fails
as time inside his bubble slips and slides
and so he loses years — age edits with the
                                        bluntest scissors
and memory’s clips forget their proper order
change and swap around until
the calendar’s a cryptic puzzle left unturned

They’re showing Christmas movies on every channel
traditional — repeated year on year on year
for him they’re mostly new — he can’t recall
when the family sat together watching, sharing jokes
                                retelling their old shaggy dog stories
That generation’s long-gone and he’ll be following them
                                                                any day now

Meanwhile he smiles at nothing in particular
asks suddenly about his mother ... father ... seems surprised
no one’s heard from them of late ... then dozes through
the remainder of the film