by By Paul Bascom Guffin Some folk will just go down to the tree lot and buy one Other folk will get a permit go into the forest cut the one they want Either way the tree ends up in the home star or angel on the top tinsel, balls, bells, heirloom ornaments decorate the branches entice the cat Then, there are those folk who believe in saving trees or just don’t want the bother of having to get one and needles on the rug they go to the attic or basement bring down or up the box that contains the artificial tree from there it’s the same and the cat still gets enticed And then there are those tree folk who select one of their own the chosen one stays rooted where it was seeded communes with all the generations around it listening to those chosen in times past opens itself to the honor an orb-weaver’s web here the squirrel family there nests of birds gracing branches beetles and bugs burrowing the trunk a world of life sheltering beneath on the forest floor and at nighttime starlight sparkling between its branches a full-moon nimbus at its crown Copyright 2023 – used by permission of the poet.The Perfect Christmas Tree