Decorating The Tree
Poem after Liz LochheadOn 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.
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.
This poem is copyright (©) Kay Medway 2026
About the Writer
Kay Medway
Kay Medway is a library assistant and writes poetry, with work published in The Dirigible Balloon, Disabled Tales, and Scaryness Express. She loves day trips, which have inspired much of her writing, and enjoys reading and learning at every opportunity.
