Holidays, so we have been told,
are joyous times for young and old.
Families gather, traveling many miles
and greet each other with welcoming smiles
and tales of what went on in their life,
mostly pleasant, with occasional strife.
Eventually, to maintain the mood,
they will be presented with holiday food.
They will eat, and reminisce,
and talk of the past, and things they miss,
but not with sadness; rather, with joy --
a favorite game or long-lost toy,
a long-ago trip or other event,
or how family time was often spent.
Eventually, it will be time to part
and do so with a heavy heart
until the next time the holidays appear
and fill the world with seasonal cheer.

Scenes like this might be true for some,
but for those like me, we just become numb.
We have no family or friends
to spend the time with.  It often ends
with being in a melancholy state,
trapped with thoughts that aren’t so great.
Sometimes we seek out others like us
to commiserate, and often thus
the pain of loneliness fades for a while,
and we can manage even a fraction of a smile.
We remember how things were, and used to be,
the sounds, the smells, what we used to see
on that ever-so-happy holiday…
but thinking of how things turned out the way
they did puts a damper on the day
and reminds us how things really are,
and how those good times seem so far
in the past.  So to you, my friends,
I hope the good time never ends.
For you, my thoughts are nothing but the best,
and I wish good tidings to you and the rest
of your family.  So be of good cheer,
and keep good thoughts for the coming year.
How to end this I do not know,
so I will say, “Happy Holidays,” and now I will go.