THE SOLSTICE TREE

Yesterday we got a tree, me and my
daughter, home for the holidays, like we
always do. This year we hunted
far afield till we found the
full gnarled man of winter. He stands
at a tilt, his top’s been broken,
the wave of needles flows
freely to one side, the mountain
has bent him but he
has survived. It seems
a shame we have cut him down.
I know he was marketed to us, I can see
the economics and the waste, but overall
the pagan energy I harbor
wants to see the naked
green man standing next to the stone
and wood of the house,
and my daughter feels it too. All these
wild things
that I love. Still,
I am not without respect for the God of Heaven,
I have kept Christmas as
well as solstice,
not so much for the birth of the child
as for the observance
of my daughter and me
drifting away from Bethlehem.

12/21/01