Christmas 2009

‘T’is the time of Capricorn—
A goat, like the Nordic goat
That frightened Finnish children

In the days of pagan dark.
The Swedish Gävle goat burned
Prematurely Tuesday night,

Black straw smoke lifting into
Cold Scandinavian skies.
Prank or ancient sacrifice—

Only Thor and Yahweh know,
And They don’t speak anymore,
Snug in Asgard and Heaven

Floating on myth and on faith.
Here in Oklahoma, snow
Freezes on the rural roads

And very few can get through
To the places they long for—
fir fires blazing in huge hearths

while luckier firs, adorned
in all festive finery,
stand tall, already dying.