LesleyScoble.com

I wrote my poem in response to Melissa’s Fandango Flash Fiction Challenge #301. To write something inspired by the prompt’s photo below. I hope you enjoy The Owl and the Christmas Tree.

The Owl and the Christmas Tree

An owl lived snug in my keep,
Each night he’d wake up and peep
His sharp eyes wide to see
The moonshine shining on us both

The owl perching on our bough,
Deep inside his tall pine tree
In sun, wind, rain and snow, 
throughout my growth
He lived with me

The coolness of our sweet pine scented air
He twit-t-wooing on his perch
We share the moonshine shining on us both
scattering gleaming starlight sprays
flickering like dappled shafts of moonrays,
or silvery candlelight 
inside a church

I was a noble tree 
standing tall 
and aiming high
Now I stand in a hall
And here I die

They bedeck me in silver lights—
Reminding me of our moonlit nights
In the wood
When owl twit-t-wooed
And life was good.

Pinecone baubles dangle,
glinting on my pinery branches
where snow and robins
held their dances.

I did not think that I,
nor my feathered friend so wise
would come to meet this sorry end…
this sad demise
this final sigh

Owl to perch on top 
at my peak…
In place of a tinsel star…
Stuffed.

I cannot speak.


Lesley Scoble, December 2024

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Owls in Christmas trees

It is not uncommon for owls to be discovered in Christmas trees that have been cut down and transported. Two notable incidents highlight this phenomenon: one involves an owl found at the Rockefeller Center in New York City, while the other recounts the discovery of an owl in a family’s Christmas tree in Kentucky.

Baby owl found in a Christmas tree at the Rockefeller Center, New York City.

Small owl discovered in US family’s Christmas tree.

Rockefeller, a northern saw-whet owl, is pictured after being found and rescued in a Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center, in New York, Nov. 16, 2020.
Ravensbeard Wildlife Center via Reuters

CREDITS
Enormous thanks to Melissa Lemay, Mom with a Blog, for the inspirational prompt.
Image credit: Animal Welfare League of Arlington via Washington Post.
Many thanks to you the reader, for popping by and reading!

Lesley lives in the City of London Square Mile. An artist, actor and sculptor (her first ceramic sculpture won the V&A inspired by… Award). Scenic artist & book illustrator, playwright (her musical play, Rapscallion performed in inner city schools and theatre school); TV dancer; mime artist; Animator and illustrator for TV production. Set up Pinecone Studios Ltd and IIMSI Ltd drama and filmmaking workshops in London – producing award-winning films made by children.