How the Greench Stole Christmas

Jumping on with the trend Maura started, I too decided to write a holiday poem. Finals shminals.

How the Greench Stole Christmas

All the people back home liked Christmas a lot.
But the Greench at Ecohouse had a troubling thought:

She didn't buy Christmas! The whole buying season.
It seemed wrong to her, yet no one quite got the reason.
It could be that the spirit of Christmas is such
that people just love it, no matter how much
Mother Earth may suffer. It's worth Her sacrifice
for this day on which people decide to be nice.

But whatever their reasons, be it family or friends,
The Greench couldn't feel good without making amends.
She grew to dread Christmas, which now starts in October.
She felt so alone. Was no one else sober?
She knew they were shopping at malls everywhere,
not sharing her values, not seeming to care.

"And they're clogging the highways!" she sighed with a moan.
"Their heaters are blasting! They're driving alone!"
Then she sniffled. The engines outside just kept humming.
"But what can I do? Stop Christmas from coming?"

She remembered the joy she once felt on that day,
tearing wrappings on presents she'd just throw away.
And then! Oh, the waste! Oh, the waste, waste, waste, waste!
That's one thing she hated: the waste! Waste! Waste! Waste!
Then all, young and old, would sit down to a feast.
And they'd feast! And they'd feast! And they'd feast, feast, feast, feast!
They'd feast on factory meats and non-organic treats
and not care where their food had come from in the least.

But it wasn't all bad. There'd be warmth for a day
in December, a prospect that's more than okay.
The Greench has a father and mother as well,
and cousins to play with, and stories to tell,
and she does like her presents, and the songs are okay
except at the mall where they're all overplayed.

What to do, what to do? And it struck: an idea!
The Greench had a wonderful, brilliant idea!

"I know just what to do!" the Greench shouted with glee.
The first thing she did? Why, she chose a real tree
from a farm, not the wild, and then for her mother
who's allergic to pine, she looked for another -
a fake one this time, for reuse each year.
She reused wreaths too: less damage, same cheer.

She was just getting started! The next thing she did
was pick out a gift for her stepsister's kid.
She found treasure upstairs at a small local shop:
A penguin friend made with sustainable crops!
And in that same store she found fair trade tea,
homemade soaps, local art, and organic coffee.



She looked for the labels and paid the nice lady,
then carpooled down the street going 30 (not 80).
Down the street was a large and abundant thrift store,
which isn't a place that's reserved for the poor.
She found clothes, toys and games, CDs, dishes and books,
electronics and more - used, but you can't tell by looks.

And she still wasn't finished! Back in her Greench lair
she had tons of stuff that was just sitting there.
Would someone else want it? Could she make something new?
"With my old craft supplies, why, that's just what I'll do!"
Then it came time for wrapping. And out from the depths,
she dug up last year's paper and bags that she'd kept.

"Made of recycled paper!" she laughed. For herself,
instead of stuff that would just gather dust on her shelf,
she asked people to give to the Earth that sustains her.
Those buying for her know that injustice pains her.
Planting trees for a shirt, though, why that's the cat's meow!
There are so many options for buying fair now.

But some people still like to do things the old way.
The Greench shrugged and she said, "I think that's okay.
There are things that I've wanted since eight months ago,
but instead of buying them then, I told myself no.
For a lot of that stuff, my wants ceased to exist.
But the stuff I still want, well, that goes on my list!"

The Greench turned off her lights and welcomed the glow
of moonlight reflecting off fresh-fallen snow.
And on the next day she awoke to the smell
of breakfast, organic and healthy as well.
She greeted her family and felt the warmth spread
From her generous heart to her idea-filled head.



The warmth was refreshing and melted the thought
that Christmas consisted of wasting a lot.
"It came without car fumes. It came without stress.
It came without making a big global mess.
"Maybe Christmas," she quoted, "doesn't come from a store.
Maybe Christmas is something we all can afford."

All people, that is, and all creatures too,
and all cultures can thrive, no matter who
you may worship or pray to or give all your thanks.
It's meaningful "spending", not breaking the bank.
What tradition exists outside of the land?
We all create culture within Nature's hands.

Photo of snow in moonlight taken from http://picasaweb.google.com/Thuleexplorer/BestShotsSept282007#5116606848653722306.