The Banister Bough

We came to make this house a home
With pure and good intent
The lilacs and the butterflies
Showed us what home meant
They did the work that beauty does
'Til leaves shook to the ground
And rain like candy cane made snow
To turn the season 'round

The people from the times before me
Went out to the woods
With an axe upon their shoulder
Dreaming bigger, something good
But Christmas can be made as new
As footprints on the ground
So when the snow is tall as me
I'll make our banister bough

Well, ask the cedar, ask the fir
Ask the pine and ask the birds
To come inside
Then we'll ask the holly
Ask the snow, ask the deer
And the mistletoe to look alive

The snow has made the night so quiet
Let's make the fire crack
And stir up something warm to drink
Feet up and lean on back
I'll lay the branches on the floor
Arranged from big to small
I'll grab some string or better yet
Some ribbon or some yarn
Then we'll loop it around, the spindles and rails
This first banister bough, it's all it entails

So let's open the boxes
The baubles and bells
The tinsel's as bright as the snow when it falls
The lights we untangled are tangled again
The presents we've given, the presents you've sent
Are waiting under the banister bough