Dreams of fir trees
Candy canes
Dancing Christmas lights
Gingerbread houses
Mistletoe
And presents wrapped tight
Santa Claus with his sleigh and reindeer
Each merry day that passes brings Christmas more near

When the promised hope of spring is swept away by wind and rain
When lifeless leaves are falling like ashes to the ground
When the frozen sleep of winter has muffled your voice to silence
When your ears are ringing because the sun is screaming
And your weary soul can never escape the sound

There is a fir in the forest
Its compass needles will stay firm and true
An evergreen chorus
It will stand through every season
And it will lead you safely home

When every other leafy pillar snaps under the weight of winter snow
When autumn sets fire to the safety of green and slowly burns it to brown
When the scorching heat has left you dry and thirsting for release
When the ice is surely cracking, the clear connections keep collapsing,
And you’re sure that in your lacking you will drown

There is a fir in the forest
Its compass needles will stay firm and true
An evergreen chorus
It will stand through every season
And it will lead you safely home

When the flash of colours through the seasons leaves you dizzy and confused
When the world just won’t stop spinning,
And time it just goes on and on and on.
When all the twists and turning have you yearning
For something to stay the same

There is a fir in the forest
Its compass needles will stay firm and true
An evergreen chorus
It will stand through every season
And it will lead you safely home

Have you seen a tree weep,
Not tears from it drop,
But, real blood.
Since 1200 years ago on the day of Ashura,
The day of martyrdom of Imam Hussain at Kerbala,
Mourns a big old fir tree,
In the Zarabad village,near the Ghazwin city in Iran.
Hussain was brutally martyred,
His head slain and hung on a spear!
Paraded  through the streets of Kufa,
So he could save Islam.
This fir tree, in the morning of Ashura performs a miracle,
It sheds tears of blood,
Which trickle down from its branches and leaves.
It's not paint or water colour,
For the drops smell of blood.
If a tree can mourn Hussain,
How can we be left out,
On that day tens of thousand gather around the tree to mourn Hussain,
Many critically ill come for sole purpose to be cured by the holy blood.
With Hussain's death truth prevailed,
Islam prevailed.

We had a family meeting
And decided that our tree
Would no longer be a fake one
It would be as real, as real could be

I said that it's no problem
In fact I think it's fine
I truly miss the Christmas scent
Of wet and musty pine

I reminded them that last year
A new, lit up tree we'd bought
They passed off my weak arguement
With barely time or thought

So, with three weeks until Christmas
The search would now begin
For a tree, just full of needles
Not too bushy or too thin

I started with the want ads
Saw the lots with trees for sale
But, most were all on order
I begged, to no avail

My wife said, let's go cut one
In a woodlot, cut one down
I said we're in the heart of a big city
We have to go two hours out of town

I told them, I'm not going
Then my daughter, shed one tear
I don't know how she does it
But, she's got me wrapped....I fear

So we loaded up the family
Drove until we found the place
With so many others out there
There was no parking space

We parked out on the roadway
Half a mile from the gate
When we go there to start cutting
We were told....two hour wait

We'd brought an axe and hand saw
For when we found our perfect tree
Then, we were told...no...only chainsaws
Did I have one...nope...not me

I had to take a short refresher
On how to use their little saw
And of course, this being Christmas
It cost me fifty more

Finally, we started out
There were trees, of every kind
then the fellow said, that this years
Were in the back....way down the line

He said that this year, beavers
Had flooded out the lower plains
And the trees down here were stunted
And would have to start out once again

The ones that we could cut down
Were back a mile up the hill
I wasn't sure then if it was him
Or my family I should ****

I protested, but my daughter
You know. with the one tear leaking eye
Looked at me and smiled
And I said, that I would try

We hiked up to the woodlot,
There were trees of pine and fir
And a spotty faced young helper
Who asked "What kind do you want, sir?"

Long needled, or a short one
Douglas fir, or knotty pine
The choice, well it was endless
And the choice, well ...it was mine

The next thing that he asked me
How big should the tree be?
I looked a little flustered
And then he said to me

Once you cut it down ...you own it
Measure it, and cut it down
Make sure you get the right one
It's a long way back to town

My wife said, 8 or 9 feet
The kids, no help at all
They were both playing on their cellphones
And making plans for later at the mall

We chose to get a pine one
Eight feet high and just as wide
I didn't know exactly
How I'd get it home and back inside

Two minutes, and I'd cut it
We had a tree, and just my luck
They'd started out without me
I had to drag it to the truck

The boy said, they'd wrap and measure
Down front where I came in
I looked down down at my killing
Not too fat, and not too thin

Two hours later I arrived
All wet and soaked and peeved
But deep down, I'd made them happy
And this made me relieved

Once he wrapped it tightly
I was shocked at the tree's price
He said, two hundred forty
In fact he said it twice

30 bucks a foot for pine
That would be dead in two weeks
I was so mad when I paid him
That I could barely speak

I walked back to the truck alone
I left the family with the tree
I thought two times of driving off
Ok...in truth....It was three

They tied it down upon the roof
Said the rope, was free this year
I almost blew my top right then
I saw my daughter....and her tear

We drove it home in silence
Stopped once on the way
I had to spend twenty more dollars
For a tree stand, at the Bay

I dragged it in the living room
Cut it open, let it spread
It, didn't really fluff out much
I think our tree was dead

It took almost an hour
It lay there, dropping needles on the floor
I thought , yep, this is Christmas
Who could ask for any more?

The kids were gone already
When I put it in the stand
I had wired it, into the wall
This was not the way I planned

A simple family Christmas
With a tree is a pain
I've got a fake one in a box
I'll not do this again

There's bare spots at the bottom
It's unbalanced near the top
There's sap all through the hallway
I've got more, just tell me stop

The tree is now all covered
With decorations and with lights
I water it twice daily
So, it doesn't burn up in the night

Next Christmas when they tell me
We want another tree
I'll tell them, go ahead and get one
But, do it with out me!!!!

Rain makes the mighty fir stronger
As she creates a home for unsubstantial creatures
Glimpses of birds mean little in the long life she is to endure,
Hundreds of years with thankless children add up to nothing.
And still years alone wear down the mightiest of giants,
Nature brings great storms to test her will.
A groan, a thud, and silence
Roots splayed above a grave.
Even after the rain stops holding her up,
She has not escaped her job of nourishment.
Her ribs cave in,
Maggots selfishly taking their fill
As their fat bodies writhe in the flesh of god.

You got under my skin,
and ripped my heart out of my chest.
You lit a match against my skin,
and then stayed to watch it burn.

              * I still cross continents for you.