Grandpa's Chair

Mittens on the porch

Willys Wagon purrs outside

Warming up the engine

For a chilly ride

Be careful on the bridge

Late to Christmas Eve

Put a plate of cookies out

Cause Grandpa still believes

The stove was filled with wood

Our cocoa made with love

We're trading drowsy songs

All the ones you're thinking of

Everyone was full

Everyone was there

As I drifted off to sleep

In the arms of grandpa's chair

The kids went off to college

Flights were all delayed

Not as many mouths to feed

The goodies we had made

We gathered by the fire

After Grandpa went to bed

He shivered in the cold

A watch cap on his head

Do you remember every summer?

His cookouts by the pool

Or how he helped to smuggle

Chocolates into school

Everyone was full

Most of us were there

As I drifted off to sleep

In the arm of grandpa's chair

Now it's time to clean the house

It's time to pack the crates

We divvy up the heirlooms

The closing cannot wait

Friends from out of town

Cousins at the wake

Wish us all the best

I need a goddamn break

In the hall we stack the boxes

Bags along the stair

I move some junk and fall into

The arms of that old chair

We could mothball every item

Preserved by napthalene

The colors would stay bright and true

The fabric always clean

But what good is a memory

That no one can recall?

Is furniture just wood and glue

If used by none at all?

Now the chair is by the fireplace

Warming near the glass

The grandkids sing the carols

After supper, after mass

Those little ones will never know

The one who isn't there

Safely off to sleep within

The arms of grandpa's chair