The sap of the day (Bud Rue, 1988)

The sap of the day

The sap of the day
What it is.
It is the smell of evergreen,
of cakes and candies.
The coming together of loved ones
Not seen for time,
The coming together of those
No longer with us.

It is years compressed
To the moment of now:
The future, the present,
The past.

It is the remembrance of love,
The pain of ritual.
Mama wrapping packages
We couldn't afford.
The tree being cut from the hill,
Drug to the house,
Mounted on an unsteady stand
And clothed in garments of tradition.

It is the sharing of time, food and things.
It is the time when fragile love
is renewed.
It is also a time of pain, of fear,
and of aloneness.
A time when many reach out to be touched
By a sense of community
That is both illusion and reality.

-- By Bud Rue
Published December 1988 in The River Reporter as a letter to the editor.