i felt the outsider,
sitting there under my hair,
body knit up in wool,
wrapped in my signature
scarf of many colors,
gloves in my lap,
beneath chilled hands.

i was alone
crowded into the space
leftover by buzz-cut males
with tightly permed wives,
their tots munching crackers,
tiny mouths busy mulching
instead of crying out loud.

the music swelled
and i saw you finally,
center of my universe,
your golden hair spilling
 loose from your santa cap,
eyes wide in spirit bright,
singing my heart loose.