Where do Christmas Trees go to Die?

Cherry

By Jane Hyphen

Wed, 10 Jan 2018
  • 2004 reads
7 comments
 

 

Where do Christmas trees go to die

In a municipal car park piled up high

And all the dogs stop to sniff

The household smells of pets

And festive food. Shiny black nostrils

Twitch and flare as they walk by

The pile of spiky bodies in every

Hue of dull deep green, glaucous

Limbs intertwined with limbs

Debarked from MPV’s and hurled

So gratifyingly upon the heap

To link arms and stick in place

‘That was the best tree we’ve

Ever had.’ They grumble at the

Needles in the boot and drive

Away never looking back

 

The trees dying for a month

Or more, obliged to look their

Very best in death, dressed up

In dingle-dangles, tinsel stoles

Flashing lights and the scrambling

Claws of cats of unsound mind

They wait in silence now to molt

Spiky needles pile inches on the ground

The shredding man pulls up, aroused

Stutters his big machine it fires and

Shakes and in they go, one by one

Frenziedly into little chunks of wood

Glorious still if only in smell, unified

They form a jacket on the ground

In time to rot, give back a tonic

To the earth from which they sprung

 

Certificate U
Poem
Nature

Comments

Submitted by Parson Thru on

Answers the question beautifully, Jane. Poor trees, sacrificed at the altar of seasonal expectation. Makes me quite fond of my mother's fibre optic one. :)

Parson Thru

Submitted by Rhiannonw on

That's really clever and informative, Jane! I liked the mixture of smells from their Christmas homes intriguing the dogs, and their useful end in scent, soft carpet and recycling (jacket and tonic) to the earth. Every other year, my father liked to take us out and choose a graceful branch of ash, and paint it white with some glitter shaken on, and it was a really lovely alternative when decorated. Rhiannon

 

Submitted by Parson Thru on

My grandparents used to do that, too, Rhiannon. I think they used the same one every year. Thanks for reminding me.

Parson Thru

Submitted by Jane Hyphen on

Thanks Parson, it is a sacrifice of sorts, perhaps no more of one than our Christmas sprouts. I think most Christmas tree farms are carbon neutral, always sad to fell a tree though isn't it.

Hi Rhiannon thanks for reading. I watched my dogs yesterday evening sniffing all the trees discarded in the car park, they were there for a long time taking in all the scents. That sounds really lovely, painting an ash branch and decorating it, quite modern really, was he ahead of his time?

 

Submitted by Di_Hard on

Maybe the dogs are interested in the "Claws of cats of unsound mind" . Or maybe wondering at the waste of so many potentional dog newspaper stands (trees much better than lamp posts as more absorbant) The Christmas tree frenzy does seem to epitimise our wanton wastefulness. I used to go into the woods and find a branch from a fallen tree, often ash because it's so smooth and pale. Then we'd pile on as many lights, tinsel and home made sparkly things we could. But my son growing up realised this was not the done thing, so we got a plastic Christmas tree. My parents always had a real tree and burnt it on a bonfire. THAT  is a good end for a Christmas tree, a great whooshing shuttlecock of fire ane crackles shooting up higher than the still iving trees. Round here several people have planted a Christmas tree in their gardens from when their children were small, and the trees are now taller than the houses and the children moved away. The one across the road often has owls sitting in it.

 

Submitted by Jane Hyphen on

Hi Di_Hard, I agree re wanton wastefulness, some people even buy a whole new set of decorations each year, pretty shocking isn't it. I like to have a real tree, it's like a little Christmas friend, something to get you through it when the family are testing your patience. Those which are planted in the ground seem to take years to get going but when they go they shoot towards the sky like you say. Thanks for reading.

 

Submitted by Jane Hyphen on

Thanks guys for the cherries.