Dismantling Our Christmas Tree by Robert Sonkowsky

Dismantling Our Christmas Tree
by
Robert Sonkowsky

kenosis

Down comes the big angel

Gabriel

from the very top

blowing his horn

Christ is born.

Then a veritable crop

of lacey stars and snowflakes,

glass balls of silver and gold,

glass reindeer, German, delicate, old —

don't drop them for heaven sakes —

little angels, Santas, of felt and of wood,

items like circus seals with balls on noses —

no ancestor who bequeathed them would or could

explain their relevance, one supposes,

to Christmas. Dismantle the mantle: Wisemen, Kings,

baby Jesus; grandkids' stockings, now empty.

Lastly, take apart the tree,

after boxing all these things,

and fold its plastic limbs into a coffin-shaped container

as if embalmed until next year: it's a no-brainer

that I too have lost my topmost decoration

as well as, below that, much of my ornamentation

at age eighty-one; my limbs of flesh, not plastic, await inhumation

one day, or cremation, but my dismantling, while not embalmed,

will be by my faith becalmed,

and become a new creation,

beyond political liberation,

emptied of myself, emptied of things.

Robert Sonkowsky (1931 - 2014) was a poet, freelance actor, and classics & theater professor emeritus. He wrote and performed poetry beginning in the second grade, when his creative teacher, Miss Malarkey, had her pupils use words from the spelling lists in poems and stories and read them aloud to the class. Robert published two books of poetry and numerous individual poems in online and print publications. He regularly recited before the North Oaks, Minnesota Poets and Writers group. Learn more about him here.

twinkscat:
Great idea for a poem! Thanks for sharing.
Posted 01/14/2013 12:53 PM

peninsulapoet:
I like how the poem turns at the end to be a comment on mortality. Plus, the poem has a charming music.
Posted 01/14/2013 09:32 AM

Larry Schug:
This poem is a great example of how huge the "little" moments really are and if one is thoughtful, can draw life lessons from them. We should all know there are really no "little" moments in life. Thanks, Robert. Good work.
Posted 01/14/2013 08:12 AM

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