12 Days

She paraded into our house
On Monday night
As an uninvited guest in the storm
“I'll stay for a day
Or two,” she promised,
But lied.
She paraded through the
Door
Uninvited, lit
Candles,
And handed us
Books
In place of our
Electronics.
It was fun for a while
Until it wasn't.
She left us in the darkness

And began sucking our heat
Instead

She fed on the life within us

And blessed us with loneliness.
We wept

Begged

Yelled
For her to leave
But she insisted: “It could be worse.”
So we swallowed our pride
And allowed ourselves to be consumed
By blackness

By her

By us.
She forced us out with her
Unabating bitterness
And when we were finally gone

Finally broken

Hopeless
She left.
For an hour (maybe a little more)
We rejoiced,
But then quickly forgot her 12-day stay
And adjusted back to life
As it was.