“my beerdrunk soul is sadder than all the dead christmas trees of the world.”

Source: I'm a Stranger Here Myself: Notes on Returning to America after Twenty Years Away

New York (p. 15)
1980s, America (1986)
Context: Yet there is a certain solitude like no other - that of the man preparing his meal in public on a wall, or on the hood of his car, or along a fence, alone. You see that all the time here. It is the saddest sight in the world. Sadder than destitution, sadder than the beggar is the man who eats alone in public. Nothing more contradicts the laws of man or beast, for animals always do each other the honour of sharing or disputing each other’s food. He who eats alone is dead (but not he who drinks alone. Why is this?).

Source: The Book of Questions

The Wild Flag (1943)
Context: This is the dream we had, asleep in our chair, thinking of Christmas in the lands of fir tree and pine, Christmas in lands of palm tree and vine, and of how the one great sky does for all places and all people.
After the third great war was over (this was a curious dream), there was no more than a handful of people left alive, and the earth was in ruins and the ruins were horrible to behold. The people, the survivors, decided to meet to talk over their problem and to make a lasting peace, which is the customary thing to make after a long and exhausting war. There were eighty-three countries, and each country sent a delegate to the convention. One English-man came, one Peruvian, one Ethiopian, one Frenchman, one Japanese, and so on, until every country was represented.

Source: 88 Poems

The Christmas Tree (1953)

"Under No Circumstances Will Michelle Yeoh Be Serving a Christmas Turkey" in Vogue (19 November 2019) https://www.vogue.com/article/michelle-yeoh-interview-last-christmas

Variant: Never worry about the size of your Christmas tree. In the eyes of children, they are all 30 feet tall