Execution by Christmas Lights

A layer of rime, freshly fallen,
glazes a mistletoe leaf
recently trampled
by the dozen booted feet of toy soldiers
marching into the palisade.
Strings of brilliant multicolored lights decorate
its high stone walls.
The general barks a command,
and the shivering prisoner is brought out
and dragged onto the scaffold.
Snow ices on his shaved scalp
as he looks into the December sky
and prays.
Clicks of reloading guns echo in the silent night,
and the soldiers take their aim
while their families sing and feast
and make merriment in their warm homes.
And as the shots are fired,
a church bell in the town tolls
on this holiest of nights.