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Poetry Friday: little tree

One of  my all time favorite poems of the season is the following:

little tree

by E. E. Cummings

little tree
little silent Christmas tree
you are so little
you are more like a flower

 

who found you in the green forest
and were you very sorry to come away?
see          i will comfort you
because you smell so sweetly

 

i will kiss your cool bark
and hug you safe and tight
just as your mother would,
only don’t be afraid

 

look          the spangles
that sleep all the year in a dark box
dreaming of being taken out and allowed to shine,
the balls the chains red and gold the fluffy threads,
Read the rest here.
My tree tradition  as a child was that the Christmas tree did not go up until my brother and I were asleep on Christmas Eve.  We would then wak Christmas morning to a magical sight: a decorated tree and the presents that Santa had left us. (Because we were always good.)
In sixth grade that ended.  It was the cost of trees in California and the hatching fly tree that led to the artificial tree.  I was devastated.
What tree memeories do you have?
BTW. only a few hours remain for the Bridget and Barrett auction.  I posted here about it. 
Can be found here: http://32auctions.com/
Auction ID: bridget
Password: rules
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One thought on “Poetry Friday: little tree”

  1. Hey, Jone, your link for the rest of the ee cummings poem is broken, but I googled it because I wanted to read the rest. We didn’t have a tree last year (first Christmas with the new cat plus I convinced myself that I didn’t want to take the time to get everything out and put everything away). Well, I’m suffering from ornament withdrawal, so we’re going today to get the tree and I’ll think of this poem as I decorate its arms with rings and balls and lights!

    My favorite childhood memory of the Christmas tree is sitting on the couch in the dark looking at the tree lights with my glasses off. One of the (few) joys of being incredibly myopic is that the lights on the tree are huge rings that swell and dance and pulse as you watch them with your glasses off. Glasses on — crisp and clear. Glasses off — magical and soft.

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