After the Party - Diane Scantlebury

No more harking of herald angels,
The shepherds went home
With the three men wise,
They’d gone before it was time for turkey curry,
When all the booze was done
And there were no more mince pies,

All had stuffed to their fill,
Celebrated with drunken merriment
And loud shouts,
But they’d left without tidying up the debris
Almost none had eaten their sprouts,

Under the table gathered the litter
Bright plastic toys from crackers pulled,
Stuffing squashed into the carpet
And minus a handle, a broken cup,
Ruby stained by Christmas wine mulled,

From a distance comes the faintest jingle
As old man Xmas returns Rudolf to the fold,
Staggering in the crisp snow he stumbles,
Smothered in myrrh, his pockets weighed down
With clinking coins of gold,

The party is over,
The uninvited guests have all had a blast,
Joe mops Mary’s exhausted brow
While the birthday boy, now asleep,
Settles down in his crib at last.

Diane Scantlebury