T’was the night before Christmas and the tree's come alive
With squirrels and birds and honey bee hives.
Roots sprout under and two twigs jut about.
The tree stands up on its newborn legs and wobbles out!
Through the back porch and up to the yard's fence,
The tree pauses to glance at its stunned audience.
The children all point, the parents do too.
"What is that thing?" "What's it gonna do?"
Suddenly a bright star streams across the night sky.
The tree takes off its electric topper and flips it up high.
It sparkles and shines with the cord still a-plugged.
The children all gasp and their parents all hug.
As the glimmering object falls slowly to the ground,
Not a creature is heard. Not a breath. Not a sound.
Once it lands on a mountain of pure white snow,
The tree's arms slump over and it speaks tired and low.
"My whole pine family sits past this gate.
I miss them dearly, as of late.
You no longer look at me as a living thing.
You've cut my roots, you've trimmed my wings.
You've hung toys and plastics and lit me up.
I haven't had any water, not a sip or a sup.
But now, somehow, I've come back to life.
And all I want now are my children and wife.
I can hear their hearts beat in the silence of the night.
I can still see their faces from our last light.
They're roots are still living past this fence in the woods,
Can someone help me?" The children understood.
Within five seconds the parent's become a-flustered;
The children run to the tree to form a tight cluster.
"We'll help you Dear Tree, you know we will.
And not another pine tree we will ever kill!"
The children all hammer on the six-foot plastic wall
Until the slabs bend and break and fall.
With a noisy cheer the children clear the way.
"Thank you young people. You've made my Christmas day."
With a hop and a skip, over the hump the tree goes,
Dropping ornaments, light bulbs and several red bows.
It trudges through the snow with the excitement of life.
"I'm coming sweet treelings, my darling dear wife."
Once the tree arrives at the home he once knew,
There is nothing but stumps - he doesn’t know what to do.
The stub where his wife stood was sawed low to the ground.
He touched it with a branch and looked sadly around.
The spots where his children once reached up to the sky
Are now tiny white hills barely ankle high.
"My sweet family, where did I go wrong?
You were young and beautiful and majestic and strong.
Now you’re decorated in a human house somewhere,
With children around you to awe and to stare.
Will I ever find you and love you like I once did?"
The tree drops to the floor and sobs like a kid.
"Daddy!" A small voice shouts, piercing the ugly dread.
"Look at the star they put on top of my head!
And the large crystal balls of red, gold and blue.
It's like they want me to be one of their toys too!"
The pine tree stood up and hugs his two sons with glee.
"Where have you two been? And where's Mommy?"
"Here I am," said a sound of pure delight.
"We've been waiting for hours on this cold, blustering night.
It was odd and crazy when I first awoke,
You should have seen the faces on those old folk.
They were just as horrified and surprised as me.
I rushed as fast as I could back to my family.
Now that we’re all here we can go uphill,
Where the people are scarce and the lumbering nil.
Where the summers are moist and the winters are cold,
And you and I can grow tall, thick and old."
Once they travel up the snow-covered slope
They plant their roots in the land full of hope,
Praying one day they will be spared the saw,
And their only fear will be the occasional bear claw.
Maybe one day humans will stop needlessly
Chopping down and mauling the trees of their trees
For the sake of decorating for one season through.
These poor tree families deserve another Christmas too.
Image Credit:
Christmas Trees In The Moonlight
By Nancy Meuller
https://fineartamerica.com/featured/christmas-trees-in-the-moonlight-nancy-mueller.html
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