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The Village Maker

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Around the Christmas tree,

My mother used to arrange

A winter’s village

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We knew it was winter

Because a sheet had been

Wrapped around

The base and all,

The buildings set inside the folds

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There were houses,

Naturally, most with

Peaked roofs though

There was one house top

That was crenellated

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Cardboard walls (and roofs)

Had been painted somehow

In manufacturing

With coats of glitter

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There was a church with

Paper stained-glass windows

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There were people

Plastic or metal

I’m not sure,

Walking through town

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There might have been a bench

For one or two to sit upon

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There were people, I believe,

Set in a one-horse sleigh

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There was a pond for ice

And skating, and there were

Ice-skaters there

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The pond was a small mirror

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I thought that was so clever

Of my mother

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There were holes in the backs

Of the houses and

The church,

Through which light bulbs

Were pressed and a wire,

All connected so that when

The tree was lit, the

Village was illuminated, too

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C L Couch

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Photo by Gard Skaar Johansen on Unsplash

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