Well, me’n Rose t’other day
were finally taking the tree down
and putting all the decorations away
after an endless season of visiting,
and baking, and eating, and singing.
And I said we needed to have the tree
And greens out to the curb by Wednesday
So the city could pick ‘em up
For the Annual Burning of the Greens.
And Rose rolled her eyes and said as how
that seemed to be a fairly new celebration.
Growing up it was not a family tradition,
nor one the town observed.
“We were rural,” she said,
“and chose to return
the spent Christmas trees,
wreaths and swags back to the earth.
We had a trash pile,
trimmings from shrubs,
limbs, grass clippings and corn husks,
weeds from the garden.
Our pine and cedar decorations,
devoid of any ornaments,
ribbon or garland,
became a refuge for stray foxes,
skunks and occasional turkeys.
We rarely burned our brush pile.
So, I guess we just thought of
adding the tree and swags
as a Christmas gift back to the land,
if only to extend the giving a little longer.”