Discover with me your family tree.
Ignore online apps promising filigree.
Instead, help me decorate my Christmas tree.
String tiny lights round and round with glee.
Stand on tip toe to place Grampa’s ribbon rose
at the very top, where it always goes.
Hang wooden orange giraffe
beside spunky little brown horse.
Decades ago they made you laugh,
hanging above your crib, of course.
Be extra gentle with the pink glass bell,
fragile as a thin egg shell.
Your grandmother’s as a small child,
looking at it, she always smiled.
Add red ornament with letters painted white,
Lillian spelled out, still brings delight.
Made by my teacher in first grade,
her love for students proudly displayed.
Treasure these ornaments year after year
so many belonged to family so dear.
Behold this memory filled Christmas tree,
see and touch your ancestry.
Written for dVerse, the virtual pub for poets around the globe. Grace provides us with the last prompt for 2023 as we will now be on hiatus until January 1. She asks us to write a culinary rhyming recipe poem.
While we do indeed have a number of recipes handed down from generation to generation in my family, I’ve taken a bit of poetic license and written a poem with a “recipe” for my adult children (now 47 and 49; I’m 76) to discover their ancestry/family tree by looking at the ornaments on my Christmas tree. Just a few are mentioned in the poem. There many more including a fragile airplane that was on my father’s tree when he was a little boy. You can see it in the photo, next to my mother’s pink bell. There are ornaments made by my children’s babysitters; two painted by my father; some made by neighbors from the house where we raised our children; some made or given to us by aunts and uncles; sadly some given to us by relatives now gone from this earth. There are ornaments made by our kids when they were 4 and some when they were in grade school. There are ornaments collected from family vacations. It is what I often call a memory tree. Almost every ornament has its own story. In a way, they are the ingredients, melded together and on display, that enable us to reconnect with our family every year, no matter the distance or time that separates us; no matter if they have left this earth and only reside in our hearts.
Whatever holidays you celebrate, I hope they are joyful and shared with loved ones. I also wish everyone a happy and healthy New Year.
lillian the home poet 
That’s the best kind of family tree, Lill! I would love one, but I moved so much and we never inherited anything to put on a Christmas tree. I had to buy new ornaments every time we moved. Ellen has started a collection for the boys though. I love the idea of a wooden orange giraffe and a ‘spunky little brown horse’.
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Thank you, Kim. I did take poetic license with this prompt….but I must admit. I do NO cooking here. George does ALL the cooking. As my grand daughter once said to make me feel good, “Yes but, gramma makes great toast!
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Smiles!
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Beautiful, Lill, as a tender way to “touch your ancestry”! I feel the same about our heirloom ornaments. They hold such memories. May your holidays be happy and safe!
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Thank you so much, Dora. Have a joyful holiday season!
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Such a good idea, Lillian. Nice response to the prompt. Keeping family history alive is important. Happy Holidays!
Pat
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Thank you, Pat. Have a joyful holiday season! And yes, family history, rather than a cut and dry family “tree” is, in my opinion, truly important. It records the love in a way that a simple diagrammatic tree cannot.
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Delightful!
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Thank you, Carol!
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That is a very meaningful and heart-warming Christmas decorations filled with memories. Indeed a wonderful way to keep those past happy memories alive. Enjoyed the rhyming verses and this one sings so joyfully. Happy Holidays to you and your family.
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Thank you so much, Grace! Trust me, I am such a bad cook you would not have wanted any of my recipes. This way, I’ll pass this poem on to my children.
Merry Christmas to you and yours.
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What a wonderful way to pass down pieces of each generation.❤️
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Yes….and I’m so thankful that my mother saved many of these family heirlooms and then passed them on to me. She would be well over 100 years old now.
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Happy Holidays, Lillian!
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And to you, Reena!
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It is amazing how without those stories the decorations would be simply decorations.
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Exactly.
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So beautiful, Lill. The last line made me sigh…I love that this tree is still blossoming in memories. Have a wonderful Christmas and make some more!
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My tree, like yours, is a diary. I always find it odd when guests just pass it by, admiring the “all” without noticing the details that make it so beautiful..memories as much a part of it as eyes. I hope you do detail each ornament for your children so they can appreciate it, too. Too often we wait until too late to tell our stories or to ask for them. A lovely poem. I missed the date in publishing my more literal recipe, but here it is. Hope you don’t mind: https://judydykstrabrown.com/2023/12/19/judys-addictive-sangria-brew/
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Nice rhyming
Mine is HERE
Much♡love
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Lillian, your poem beautifully weaves the essence of family and tradition into the imagery of decorating a Christmas tree. The way you describe each ornament, from Grampa’s ribbon rose to the wooden orange giraffe, is not just a decoration but a cherished piece of family history. The delicate pink glass bell and the red ornament with your name evoke a sense of connection across generations. Your poem captures the essence of passing down memories, making the Christmas tree a living testament to the family tree. Lovely and heartwarming! 🌲❤️
~David
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