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
Copyright © Kai Michael Neumann | Year Posted 2018
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