Empty Boxes

Once the gifts are opened
And the wrapping paper tossed,
The empty boxes sit, forlorn,
Their magic all but lost.

That flat screen fifty-inch TV
Must be plugged in and blaring;
To keep that sucker a surprise
Took hours of preparing.

That iPod and Nintendo Wii,
With docks and games and apps -
It sure required self-control
To keep them under wraps.

The jewelry and cameras,
All the clothes, perfume and toys,
Took days of thought and hoping
They’d engender joyful noise.

But whether all the gifts were met
With glee or with chagrin,
Dismantled boxes join the garbage,
Now their next of kin.

What held a treasure soon converts
To flattened, useless trash;
Its lovely wrapping ripped to shreds,
Discarded in a flash.

And soon the luster, too, will fade
From every gift so dear;
But there’ll be all new empty boxes
Christmas time next year.