Wilted Tree

Many of us celebrate the time when Jesus lay in his feeding trough Own a place in our home do not have to knock on so many doors Put up Nordic fir cut from woods or plastic with fake snow and tinsel Decorate it with ornaments and try to make Peace for a day or for two Can we see the tree for the forest of presents bulging under branches of spikes and needles when we drink up the spirit mostly from liquor A Pagan winter festival demoted to mercurial celebrations out of context The shops have been full and many of us are still empty of promise and hope It used to be about winter solstice solidarity and solemn acceptance that communities are greater than closed systems of kin and only our own Once upon a time and place in our heart we believed in fairy tales mysterious and wonderful symbolized stories of legendary souls Are our roots more solid today or simply displaced when a lost angel sits high up on the tip of a conifer and cries in bewilderment When Jingle Bells and a Little Drummer Boy disgrace an ancient festival and Away in a Manger is a sales ploy rather than a memory of awakening Surely trees are important as they give sap and life as Kabbalah depicts The Buddha sat under one in meditation when contemplating his path Celtic polytheistic oaks and their acorns spread the message of seeds Hindus venerate the Banyan tree as life giving shelter and sacred vows A Baobab stores water for dry seasons and adapts to environments Indigenous folks don’t cut it down but let the shade guide them to wisdom Christmas trees and sagacity have surrendered to a projection of abused wealth and no amount of frippery bibelots can embellish forsaken minds Once the last tree is cut down the last fish eaten and the last stream poisoned we will realize that we can’t eat money and low-browed greed has its price 01st December 2018