Christmas Tradition #Christmas #poem #SampleSunday

This is totally a repeat. Sue me.

TraditionMerry Christmas! Or Happy Hanukkah, or Best Wishes For A Wonderful Day, or whatever.

Here is a poem that appears in the Southern Indiana Writers’ HOLIDAY BIZARRE anthology. I may have posted it before, which makes it a tradition in fact as well as by name.

TRADITION

by Marian Allen
(with apologies to Ogden Nash)

I’ve never been able “to see
if reindeer really know how to fly,” but I know a Christmas tree
sure can.
All you have to do is take a man–
my husband, for example–
take him to the woods and let him trample
around in the snow, looking for the very best
tree he can find. Let the rest
of the family stay home where it’s warm, or let them come
and argue and call one another’s choices “dumb.”
Choose a tree that looks just the right
size for the room. I guarantee you that the height
of that tree will be at least two feet over,
a fact which you must let your man discover
before he takes the tree inside
so, while everybody else goes in for popcorn and hot chocolate, he can stay out on the porch and cut lengths off the trunk until the tree is less high than it is wide.
Then
let him in.
Next, your man must spend an hour looking in the basement for a tree stand and then you must find it in a minute in the attic.
Your man’s language will become emphatic.
Finally, let the tree not fit the stand, and let it lean once it’s whittled down to size, and let it fall over unless somebody’s holding it, and let everybody start fighting over what ornaments to use and how much tinsel, and let them all get mad and go to separate rooms declaring that they don’t care if the tree never gets decorated and, when all this has been done, open the back door and stand by.
That tree will fly.

A WRITING PROMPT FOR YOU: Aw, take the day off — it’s Christmas!

MA

About

I was born in Louisville, Kentucky, but now live in the woods in southern Indiana. Though I only write fiction, I love to read non-fiction. The more I learn about this world, the more fantastic I see it is.

You may also like...

One thought on “Christmas Tradition #Christmas #poem #SampleSunday

  1. Dan

    December 25, 2016 at 7:58am

    Merry Christmas Marian. No flying trees this year.

    Permalink  ⋅ Reply
    • Author

      Marian Allen

      December 25, 2016 at 8:31am

      Nope. Now that the kids have grown and gone, I have a 2′ artificial tree that I bought at the Salvation Army already decorated. I put the lights on the year I bought it and added some ornaments (including the tiny little pickle I made while feverish from a cold). Come Epiphany, I put it in a box, lights, ornaments, and all, and store it in the closet for next year. No muss, no fuss.

      Permalink  ⋅ Reply
  2. Alicia Butcher Ehrhardt

    December 25, 2016 at 3:39pm

    Since I just met you this year, this is new to me – and adorable. Thanks for sharing!

    I can SEE that tree fly!

    My men don’t do real trees, so I haven’t had the pleasure of observing that in RL.

    Permalink  ⋅ Reply
  3. Jane

    December 26, 2016 at 11:44am

    Thanks once again for the heart-warming Xmas story.
    It, like many trees, is ever green!

    Permalink  ⋅ Reply

Leave a Reply, If You Ple-az

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.