My Christmas Tree

 

Leafy,
arrogant,
potbellied 
and bastion
wide crown,
misshapen
its hanging fruits
like Christmas ornaments
such is my tree.

Every year
present in a burning sun,
as my witness,
it sees my gift.

Every year
on this festive day,
the ritual is the same
I unwrap the gift:
a book,
always a book,
and in the notable strains
that endure,
I sit,
I thresh it
I enjoy it
calmly and quietly.

It is my Christmas tree

wide,

enormous,

misshapen

it embraces me;

the múcua* are the fruits

like Christmas decorations

hanging

invariably brownish!

t is my Christmas tree

it is the Baobab**!

(Lisbon, December 2010)

*múcua: fruit of the Baobab tree
** In Angola, the Baobab tree is called “Imbondeiro” or “Embondeiro”.

Poem published in my book "Mazuí, poems, stories, and other words," pages 80 to 82, edition by Perfil Criativo Edições / Autores.club, November 2019. All my poetry is published under the pseudony Lobitino Almeida Ngola.

[image created by the author]