I wrote this poem for Christmas.  It is my gift to you.  “For unto us a Child is born…”

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A Christmas Tree, Or Why I Prefer Ailanthus Altissima to Conifer

From the root of David, a tree of heaven grows

From the pavement cracked a stumbling stone

Ailanthus, not Tannenbaum, flowery blooms thy Holy Seed

A king to rise in poverty.

Away in a manger, through Holiest night, He lay

In Brooklyn, in Bethlehem, behold His face!

This rod, Jesse’s Son, a promised Child

Has come to shade our hearts, our face

They came from the East, the fields, the stars

Like nesting birds perched in the branch, the Tree

Hope, hope for Rachel’s sons, and joy to the world!

Our Lord has come!

And as the flower turns red, a mother cries

And you wept for the world as the snow flies

You leaves, your brilliant leaves, fall to the ground

And snow is a cold grave, a deep grave

But n’er deciduous this Babe could keep

For in his death a bud still thrives, still keeps

Graft, oh graft, to your severed side

Your sap, Your blood, Your life for mine

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