For Christmas

Haworth Hodgkinson

They're out harvesting
in the pudding fields.
This year the weather
has been just right.

The puddings are ripe
and firm to the touch.
The farmer has taken samples
from the four corners of the field
and declared them ready.

Seasonal workers
brought in after the end
of the firework harvest
select and grade the puddings.

Those that are large
and perfectly round
will be packaged and sold
as premium range.

Those underweight
or mis-shapen
are set aside
to be reconstituted
for the yellow economy label.

Written 2013
Revised 2014

Published in Frost on the Tassie, 2014
(Lemon Tree Writers)