Christmas 1800 Miles Away

My fingers touched the responsive keys of my PC.

I closed my eyes and felt sort of dizzy

Of the intoxicating evaporated solvents

And the lilting motor of the safety hood.

I checked my acetone-bath cooled reaction vessel,

Took note of the temperature:

"Negative 78 it is",

Still cool.

I took out one TLC strip

As I prepared my glass capillary;

Gently dipped and dabbed on the strip

The reaction mixture caught by capillarity.

"Oh, how slow it is!" I gasped

As the TLC analysis is finished.

I just pertained to my 'reaction'

Inside the pyrex glass.

I casually returned to my desk

Faced my computer

And did some random check

Of tasks that I might haven't remembered.

And then something popped:

A Messenger notification from a group chat.

An impersonal Christmas greeting!

My droopy eyes had suddenly become wide.

It has a fairly good message

Somewhat generic, and well-intended

But I thank it for I remembered

"Oh! It is still Christmas", as I said to myself.

But it struck me how the eve's tragedies

And the mundane-ness of the day

Has left me desensitized

About the celebration of Christ's day.

It should have reminded me

Of God's ultimate expression of love

Born in a manger

On a cold winter day.

It also teaches to value and cherish the family

At least in the culture of my country

Albeit it's hard for me to feel that way

When I'm casually working ='celebrating' Christmas 1800 miles away.