Our stay in California will end the day after Christmas when we return to Mesa, Arizona for a few days. I promised to share some poetry with you, and I thought Christmas might be a good time to start. As you read the following poem, please remember that I wrote it when I was in high school.
The Night Before Christmas
"Twas the night before Christmas
And all through the home,
Rats and mice
Were beginning to roam.
The stockings were hung
By the chimney with wire;
I'd put them there, hoping
That they'd catch on fire.
The children were gagged
And tied to their beds,
While visions of killing me
Danced in their heads.
I with my nightcap
and Ma with her jug,
Sat kicking the hound dog
That lay on the rug.
Ma went to sleep,
But I had a cause;
I was staying awake
To see Santa Claus.
Out in the driveway
I heard a loud roar;
Someone was waiting
Outside our front door.
I sprang to the window
And then, with a crash,
I fell through the shutters
And into the trash.
Then what to my wondering
Eyes should appear,
But my mother-in-law
With a six-pack of beer.
"You're not Santa Claus!"
I said with a shout,
As I bolted the door
And locked the hag out.
An hour or so later,
Across the dark sky
Like a leaf in a gale,
I saw Santa fly.
Then up on the rooftop
I heard, I confess,
A noise like a battle
With Eliot Ness.
And then from the chimney
I heard a great shout,
And I realized the fire
Had not been put out.
Like a jet, up the chimney
Flew the old man in red;
And the words "Merry Christmas!"
Were not what he said.
With the speed of lightning,
He shot up the flu;
He wiped out his sleigh
And his reindeer too.
So, listen to me, kids,
You'd better believe,
That was no shooting star
You saw Christmas Eve!
Susie and I want to wish our friends and family a merry Christmas and a happy new year. Stay tuned for more of my prose and poetry, and please feel free to leave a comment on my website or Facebook page.