Tree-mendous
The angel is made from a wooden peg.
The fuzzy donkey is missing a leg.
The tinsel is ancient.
The baubles don’t match.
A pink one!
A blue one!
One with a scratch.
Every ornament hung with care.
On goes the troll with fluffy hair.
The reindeer.
The shepherd (I made him myself).
The fir cone.
The glitter.
The oversized elf.
The sparkly hedgehog.
The sprout with a face.
The snowflake my sister cut out of lace.
The cottonwool snowman.
The cardboard tree.
The felt decoration I made in Year Three.
The penguin.
The seagull.
The plastic fairy.
The ‘80s gonk from Nanny Mary.
The Elsa.
The Anna.
A festive banana?
The sequins.
The holly.
The dangly sheep.
The toy from a cracker I wanted to keep.
This way. No, that way.
Bit more to the right.
Get ready – stand back – let there be light!
We ‘ooh’ and we ‘aah’
It’s a triumph! A spectacle!
Who cares if it isn’t entirely symmetrical?
The toilet roll Santa.
The feathery dove.
Beautifully wonky.
Laden with love.
The fuzzy donkey is missing a leg.
The tinsel is ancient.
The baubles don’t match.
A pink one!
A blue one!
One with a scratch.
Every ornament hung with care.
On goes the troll with fluffy hair.
The reindeer.
The shepherd (I made him myself).
The fir cone.
The glitter.
The oversized elf.
The sparkly hedgehog.
The sprout with a face.
The snowflake my sister cut out of lace.
The cottonwool snowman.
The cardboard tree.
The felt decoration I made in Year Three.
The penguin.
The seagull.
The plastic fairy.
The ‘80s gonk from Nanny Mary.
The Elsa.
The Anna.
A festive banana?
The sequins.
The holly.
The dangly sheep.
The toy from a cracker I wanted to keep.
This way. No, that way.
Bit more to the right.
Get ready – stand back – let there be light!
We ‘ooh’ and we ‘aah’
It’s a triumph! A spectacle!
Who cares if it isn’t entirely symmetrical?
The toilet roll Santa.
The feathery dove.
Beautifully wonky.
Laden with love.
This poem is copyright (©) Paula Thompson 2025

About the Writer
Paula Thompson
Paula is a children’s writer and former newspaper journalist from Hampshire with an MA distinction in Writing for Children. She is a winner of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators Undiscovered Voices competition and longlisted as one of London Library’s Emerging Writers 2024/25. Paula’s poetry and fiction for children has featured in various publications in the UK and overseas. She is very excited to be taking flight on The Dirigible Balloon!