Elizabeth Bates

Elizabeth Bates is a Best of the Net and Pushcart-nominated writer living in Washington state with her family. She is the author of poetry chapbooks, Mosaics & Mirages (Fahmidan Publishing & Co., 2022) and  Rose Gold: Betty White Poems (The Daily Drunk, 2023). Twitter: @ElizabethKBates 

Visions of Christmas Eve

A curl of smoke

              rises from 

a rooftop &

the distinctive

scent overwhelms the vaporous 

winter air.

Relatives share a meal,

the heat of a wood fireplace warming

their backs.

Smoke & snow

illustrate the landscape

             on a brief drive.

Church

windows hum with harmonious carols

sung by

three-part choirs,

                     faces illuminated

                     under orange candlelight.

                                The midnight 

                     hour gleams.

Jesus is 

placed in the manger.

An altar boy 

puts out the candle

                               & the smoke curls

in the sanctuary

at the end of Mass.

The lights 

go out.

Families head

home. The outside

world is snow

& shadows. A father

throws

logs on the fire

               & the smoke billows. 

Children pull covers to their chins &

struggle to keep their eyes closed.

For the night, 

invisible and visible 

                trade places.

Read more of Elizabeth’s work in Solum Journal Winter 2022 and Solum Journal Volume III.