Haunted House Christmas: A Poem

Christmas Eve house sitter
Holiday gravedigger
For my lump of coal heart
Oh, don't get me started
I'm over it and I don't regret
My choice to spend the holiday alone
In this drafty old home
To keep watch for mischievous kids
Who want to sneak in
I've heard all the rumors
But I have a dark sense of humor
And think it'll be fun
To spend the night in a house
That's supposedly haunted

Well, I'm not prepared
But I'm also not scared
To come face to face with a ghost
You want scary, look at that face
On the lamppost
In the front yard
I think it's a gargoyle
Shouldn't he be up on the eaves
Feasting on melting snow and dead leaves?
I gave him a Santa hat
How could you be scared of that?
A frightening thing in a cute little hat

I'm not against Christmas
I just didn't make a list
Of things to do out of tradition
I still believe, isn't that enough?
Do I have to be overcome with love
When late December rolls around?
After I've walked the grounds
I set myself up in the house
Roam from room to room
Did something in there just move?
My imagination is running away with me
This house is the quietest place I could be

I play Christmas songs
On a radio that's so old
It looks like it hasn't heard the news
Of the end of World War II
I listen to the tremble
In Judy Garland's voice
As she tells me to have myself
A merry little Christmas
As if I had another choice

Charles Dickens had it right
Christmastime is rife
With chances for hauntings
The pipes moan and creak
But at least they don't leak
And the dim lights blink
So I think it would be safe
To carry a flashlight around the place
Just in case

I think I see faces in every mirror I pass
I try to tell myself it's just dirty glass
But there are strange echoes
In rooms I'm certain are empty
Is this how a haunting goes?
Soon I'm reminded of plenty
Of people I'd love to spend the holiday with
If I hadn't been so stubborn about it
When you've got a bruised ego
It's easy to forget and let go
Of the ones who were there all along
The people with whom I belong

I double check the doors
And every last window
I heard a strange noise
But it's just the wind blowing
Swirling the falling snow
Into a white fury
Suddenly I'm in a hurry
To say goodbye to this empty place
And be with my family
For the holiday