Some holidays

Some holidays just feel like they should be captured on infrared film
The John’s Hopkins forensic lab
– one of the few places that will process the film –
Scratches and tears and bends the prints expecting them to be filed away in some doctor’s office

Weeks later when the manila envelope arrives, it’s ripped open with hopeful glee
The pictures show lots of smiles and hugs, kisses and grins
And a table groaning under the weight of perfectly smoked meats and potatoes mashed just right

The colors are vivid but the reds a little too magenta and the blues a little too purple
And it’s all shifted just a little towards green
Like the unspoken skeletons that permeated the day with a gentle mist of derision