I awake on a chilly Christmas morning Watching choirs singing carols on TV I gaze out through my window at a dozen other windows Then I plug in my artificial tree And like a dream I begin to remember every Christmas I used to know A thousand miles away, a million years ago I remember sky It was blue as ink Or at least I think I remember sky I remember snow, soft as feathers, sharp as thumbtacks Coming down like lint And it made you squint when the wind would blow And ice like vinyl on the streets
Cold as silver, white as sheets Rain like strings and changing things Like leaves I remember leaves Green as spearmint Crisp as paper I remember trees Bare as coat racks, spread like broken umbrellas And parks and bridges, ponds and zoos Ruddy faces, muddy shoes Light and noise and bees and boys And daaaaays, oh! I remember days or at least I try But as years go by, they're a sort of haze And the bluest ink isn't really sky And at times I think I would gladly die For a day of sky!