Decorating The Tree

On the first day of not-even-Christmas-yet,
my grandmother said to me:
Tell me, my love, what you're going to hang,
From your ever-green, snow-tipped, sweet-sounding tree.

I said a matching set of yellow teapot toys
from a gift shop with all their other
vintage soft stuffed toys.
And a pressed penny from a trip to
Sea Life Centres with you.
A toy see-saw with a giraffe playing
piece.

My miniature make-shift garden swing.
Stickers that say $ Born 2 Shop $
from a Purikura photo booth
that is always popular when
on holiday in shopping malls
in Canada.

Fluorescent seas in a bottle
of sand art, once a gift.
Tissue paper squares shaped into
a dragon's flame.
Purple-scented heart.
A memory of the day I
won my first 5-metre
swimmer's prize.

And from it, good wishes draped
as big as the woods we walked in and as reticent
as the snow.