Early October is far too soon for Christmas decorations

This week, poet and artist Frieda Hughes bemoans the premature rush towards the festive season

A CHRISTMAS POEM IN OCTOBER

In August the summer displays of outdoor living were taken away

And the floors were shielded as if naked beings required privacy

While embellishing themselves, until today

When the hessian walls were stripped back

To reveal glitter and baubles and row upon row

Of shelf-height father Christmases in little boots.

I want to pack up the decorations that festoon the aisles,

And the displays of tinsel and fairy lights sparkling

For October the second.

I’d like to set free the life-size nodding reindeer

That gurn from their makeshift stalls beneath their felt antlers,

Pump blood beneath their microfibre hides

And set their hearts beating so they race for the hills

Singing ‘Frosty the snowman’ as the first leaves fall.

I want to stick those falling leaves back onto their branches

As if I can claw back September, pulling the world in reverse

So that the sun remains higher on the horizon

Further into the night, and I can sit on the balcony

With a glass of champagne

And toast the last of summer again.