In late November they appear
twinkling in porches
on silent counters
Leading out the tinsel
coloured balls and holly
At drunken angles trapped in nets
Cluttering the pavement
outside fruit shops
Filling market stalls
Estimating eyes consider
Would they fit this space - or that
Will the tinsel do
Where were the lights stowed
-
Last year's debris
dustily collected into boxes
pushed into a cupboard
or along the wardrobe top
-
Bearing home the tree
Ritual to mark the cheerful season
fill the room with needles
the scent of pine
and ghosts
-
Standing it naked from its net
overfilling that silent corner
overbalancing its placement
as trimmings are unpacked
sneezing punctuating their arrival
pleasure lighting children's eyes
Decorations which they made are re-discovered
Re-living that school pantomime
The debut as a snowflake
a donkey or all three wise men
Bearing myrrh they couldn't spell
Tripping near the crib
Anointing Baby Jesus early
with the perfume-bottle from afar
Searching in the darkened crowd
for mother and the aunties
(crying silent tears of pride
behind the shouts of laughter)
-
Hanging up the robin
A tiny tank A
parasol
Twelve coloured cotton-reels
A painted wooden lady
Auntie Myra bought one year
Ships to sail in scented air
Coloured balls to sparkle
all along the branches
dripping in their indoor winter
icicles of tinsel
from a packet made in China
Finally the lights and overall
the fairy-on-the-top
Skirt stuffed with pine
Wings and wand outspread
Mince pies arriving from the oven
Over-cooked or under-cooked
Far too hot to eat - but eaten anyway
with sherry
coffee milk
"Do you remember Camp and Bev
All that British sherry
when Grandma landed in the Christmas tree
just before the lights went on
Lit up nicely in the gloom
dusted free of needles as the carnage
of broken balls and fallen fairies
resurrected up the corner
- and the lights stayed on!
Was that the year the cotton reels appeared"
-
Bright lights switched off
with all due ceremony
Making them wait impatiently too long
The switch is switched
-
Glittering along the branches lights
blue and red and yellow
silver white and green and purple
fill the faces of the watchers
with the ghosts of Christmas Past
Christmas presents scattered round its foot
Christmas future marches on
drawing memories along its cheerfulness
Brightening its darkest corner
with eyes lit by tears
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