Sunday 25 December 2011

Christmas Greetings 2011

I can't see Christmas robins, nor doves a-cooing-so
Cat never neared a cradle in a stable 2000 years ago.
I see that ox and donkey arrived without ado
but ostrich was excluded and terrible tiger too.
Camels got an invite, as did three wise Eastern kings
giving gifts of gold and myrrh, frankincense and things.
Bankers and financiers mumbled murmurs in disguise
and thought the sleepy shepherds were sensible and wise
to gift soft lambs and washable wool, never to be fleeced.
Herod later came to tell that he wished the baby seized.
Frankincense was costly, as indeed it is today,
signals opulence in churches, mosques, special for the Lord's day.

Will Ethiopians continue to export this wonderful aromatic resin,
When Boswellia trees fail to reproduce for the Christmas season?
Will they continue to tree-tap and let long-beetle attack,
let cattle graze at bark, for this amazing aphrodisiac,
let it no longer help depression, nor give medicinal purpose,
nor serve the perfume industry?  O yay, it'll cost more to purchase.

HAPPY CHRISTMAS 2011

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