until_it_is_gone
birdmad
the
entirety
of
the
christmas
season
came
and
went
and
when
it
did
,
i
was
surprised
at
how
genuinely
silent
the
nights
leading
up
to
it
had
been
.
part
of
me
almost
missed
the
annoyance
of
the
neighbors
next
to
my
old
house
and
their
incessant rehearsals
of
their
odd
pageantry
beating
their
drums
through
the
better
part
of
every
evening
from
just
before
halloween
through
the
second
week
of
december
having
long
since
abandoned
the
religion
i
was
raised
in
,
i
forgot
which
would
be
the
date
on
which
their
whole
event
would
take
place
and
find
myself
bereft
of
sleep
the
night
that
all
of
their
practice
came
to
fruition
though
i
never
held
it
against
them
for
more
than
a
few
minutes
they
understood
my
chagrin
and
now
that
the
old
man
as
passed
away
and
both
my
family
and
his
have
since
left
that
neighborhood
behind
,
i
found
myself
a
bit
wistful
,
missing
the
big
Christmas
Eve
exchanging
some
of
our
tamales
and
other
food
from
our
own
gathering
earlier
in
the
day
with
them
and
downing
a
few
cups
of
old
Luciano's
hot
brandy
punch
with
the
great
pieces
of
sugar
cane
and
hawthorn
fruit
strewn
about
the
pot
the
last
time
i
stopped
by
the
ghosts
of
the
empty
house
to
do
a
little
more
of
my
unfinished
packing
,
i
stopped
for
a
moment
and
picked
up
an
empty
cardboard
box
as
the
sun
began
to
set
and
spent
a
good
five
minutes
drumming
out
the
rhythm
that
robbed
me
of
rest
so
many
nights
in
years
past
funny
that
i
could
find
myself
suddenly
missing
something
i
had
often
come
to
regard
as
a
subtle
form
of
torture
a
libation
for
the
old
man's
spirit
,
i
poured
a
little
of
my
vodka
into
the
soil
when
midnight
struck
and
the
calendar
and
clock
confirmed
that
it
was
christmas
que te vaya bien, Don Luciano
070109
...
crOwl
classic
bird
070109
what's it to you?
who
go
blather
from
