the Christmas pine

They felled all the pines

and took the trees away

to decorate fill with light

publicly go on display


lying on the churned up ground

was a deformed tree

the top was bent and twisted

and gaps where pines should be




it was grabbed readily

because it was free

dragged into a one room flat

as a Christmas novelty




soaked toilet paper looked like snow

loo rolls painted red

bits of cut out cardboard

painted and hung with thread




the Christmas tree of wishes

they wrote them with glee

all the gifts Santa would bring

were hung up on the tree.




At the formal inquest

the coroner had to read

the wishes of the destitute

in hunger and in need




a warm bed with blankets

a larder with some food

most of it misspelt

writing simple and crude




public subscripts found a spot

for the family to find peace

after years of poverty

death was a release




the landlord saving money

on his vast estates

got off with a caution

for the gas escapes

in the local grave yard

there boldly stands a tree

the top was bent and twisted

and gaps where pines should be