“The Day After Christmas” by Trish Reeves (poetry ’83)

The Day After Christmas

One icy night, seven years after his return from as far away as he’d ever been, just south of Bologna, ready to penetrate the Axis’ last major defensive line of the campaign, Frank walked into the extra bedroom upstairs on Union Road and heard one hundred head of cattle lowing. He flipped on the light and thirty donkeys began braying, while the bleating of two hundred sheep rolled across the room. At his next heavy step, the shrieks and wails of thirty awakening babies found their places in the surrounding sound waves. Frank stood stunned by the sounds, then backed up slowly until he had left the room. They’d turned on him for some reason, he thought.

[… continue reading “The Day After Christmas” at New Letters Magazine.]