Oh Christmas Tree!
by Martha Walker

Oh lovely, lovely Christmas Tree,
Why your decorated branches?
What means this beauty that we see--
Is it Truth that it enhances?

Your lights that sparkle in the night,
Like tiny flames that pierce the dark--
Are they reflections from the Light
That spoke a world with one small spark?

Are piercing needles, evergreen,
Mere replicas of angry thorns?
Do they rehearse a sordid scene,
Where Love was mocked and flesh was torn?

Your glistening balls of crimson red,
That softly fall from weeping boughs--
Are they reminders that He bled,
Denying self in garden vows?

If you, oh tree, tell not of Christ,
You only tell of man's desire.
You represent a hollow tryst
If you no praise for Him inspire.

Bring back the glory of the trees
So shamed by that cruel hammer's ring.
Renew our hope for man's disease;
Remind us of our coming King.

For only then, dear Christmas Tree,
Are you adorned for Him to see.

*****

© Copyright, Martha J. Walker,
December 6, 2003
All rights reserved; unathorized duplication prohibited

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