THE CHRISTMAS SACRIFICE

O, Christmas Tree

An ode to tree-hugging

Photo by Vinh Thang on Unsplash

My fa-vo-rites will always those dear, departed Christmas trees,
Decked in glory every year, a season’s sacrifice;
Familiar ornaments entrapped in cardboard box, now shine, unwrapped,
Adorn the branch of fresh-cut pine
Which fills our home with winter’s wine;

Beloved trees my father slayed with sharpened axe, so senseless, felled,
Bubble lights and brilliant glass eked out their waning lives;
Snowy mounds of cotton fluff housed Santa’s boots and silver stags,
His sleigh flew ‘cross the mantle chimes
Where prancing hooves marked passing time;

They took us to a tree farm once to choose our victim, silent trussed,
Row on stoic row they stood,
Green cattle to the butcher’s maul;
“They’re grown for this,” the vendor cried, “Pick a good one ‘fore they die.”
But tame or wild ’tis still a life surrendered for our prize;

I cannot face their unsung pain, their needle-dropping, pattering rain;
So let us hence, and journey forth and find a…