Poetry Corner
1 min read
The Perfect Christmas Tree
by By Paul Bascom Guffin
Some folk
will just go down to the tree lot
and buy one
Other folk will get a permit
go into the forest
cut the one they want
Either way
the tree ends up in the home
star or angel on the top
tinsel, balls, bells, heirloom ornaments
decorate the branches
entice the cat
Then, there are those folk
who believe in saving trees
or just don’t want the bother
of having to get one
and needles on the rug
they go to the attic or basement
bring down or up the box
that contains the artificial tree
from there it’s the same
and the cat still gets enticed
And then there are those tree folk
who select one of their own
the chosen one
stays rooted where it was seeded
communes with all the generations around it
listening to those chosen in times past
opens itself to the honor
an orb-weaver’s web here
the squirrel family there
nests of birds gracing branches
beetles and bugs burrowing the trunk
a world of life
sheltering beneath on the forest floor
and at nighttime
starlight sparkling between its branches
a full-moon nimbus at its crown
Copyright 2023 – used by permission of the poet.