December 20, 2024

 

Our 20th Yule Calendar surprise is a wintry poem by Saelo!

You might remember his fireworks song from our earlier calendar entry this month. Now, he has written something different: a poem about a foolish Yule tree. At first sight, it might seem like a happy Yule poem, but towards the end, you will see that it is more like the old tales with a moral.

Foolish Christmas Tree

by Saelo Honeythumb

 

A dream appeared within her sight
As the first snow began its gentle flight
She wished to be in a burrow hall
Covered with ornaments, and to stand tall

She looked around and saw many of her kin
Mighty spruces and pines, and firs akin
Some were taller than she would ever be
And had spent long years in this wooden sea

She wished to be the most magnificent of all
And with her silence voice she did brawl
"Deep I must dig with my roots
And find the water that soothes
My leaves that shrank from the cold,
And will feed my trunk to stop getting old."

So she started to plough the land underneath
To find the magic hidden beneath.
She spent her power all night and day
The soil escaped her roots, the rock gave way

She feasted on every bit her roots could reach
Siphoned the life from soil like a leech.
Continued her business till she felt exhausted
The land around her was all distorted

But she felt a joy from the labour of that day
All of her effort would surely pay.
Could feel the strength reaching even the tips of her leaves
Surely she was the most magnificent of all trees

With these thoughts in her mind she felt asleep
As she was tired her dream was too deep.
All her merry wishes sang her a lullaby
And she did not wake till midday was nigh.

When she came to her senses she noticed hobbits,
Their shiny axes, and sheet clean hits
On her perfect trunk, a little above the ground
Feeling the unendurable pain, she moaned.

"This is the last thing I should bear for what I'm dreaming,
It would be very dastardly if I started screaming.
Will be patient a little more, and then
There will be only joy, no adversity again."

But as she found peace with these thoughts, felt something odd,
It was like her branches were feeling cold.
Not the same cold she would feel during winter,
It was as if they had died and did wither.

"Help me! What is happening?" she did bellow,
Her voice echoed in the forest like a hollow.
Fear got into her heart, she trembled and shook
When hobbits pulled down her with a crooked hook.

The lady of the forest, the oak nearby,
Answered her frightened cry.
"You were the one among us only fit for the Yule,
The land itself had grown you mighty beautiful.
But you wanted more, usurped what was not yours,
Thieved things you did not own, by force.
And thus you poisoned yourself with stolen boon
Did not think you would suffer from the land's wrath soon.
Now here you are, being torn into splinters
To warm the Yule trees in halls during winters."

Finished her words the oak, then turned her thoughts away
And the foolish fir tree on the ground lay.
She got carried by the hobbits, none heard her plea
And peaceful silence fell on the wooden sea.