Ashes Denote: An Old Christmas Tree

As soon as the season was spent
so were you
and so were we
your needles fell to the ground like sprinkles
beneath your feet
so we picked up our own 8 feet
to labor through the house
and out to the pile
to lay your body to rest
for a while.

The end of a season
of joy and light
we found a season of mourning
surrounded by nothing but brown,
withering decay
in the longest months
that carry the most darkness
the kind of darkness
that makes me think I have lost vision
and maybe I have lost vision for a moment
for the darkness is more than just
pitch
it is also bitterly cold
shivering and shrewd
biting away at the joy and light
of seasons past.

But a crown of green beauty
burst through the womb of the ground
as she began to warm
adorning the earth with
emerald, jasper, peridot, and jade
the splendor of creation
reaching for the sky
and I knew
a new season was beginning
a season was coming soon
but dry and withered decay
must first be burnt away
an unspoken ritual
inviting new light and joy.

And since a “fire loves” an old
Christmas Tree the most
we threw the Departed Creature in first
and it went up in a blaze
a bright and brilliant blaze
reaching to the sky
it’s flaming hands were high
in the air and scared me a bit
as I looked up and thought of the star
the star that was held at its peek
remembering a babe who came
who lived
who died
like the tree we threw into the fire
You produced a light for all eternity
for all of humanity to see
an invitation to a new beginning
we welcome new life
as we toss what was dead
into the fire
and watch the ashes fall
into dust
and say goodbye
to our old selves
and begin to dwell in You.