Another Visit From Saint Nick
I’ve enjoyed writing for many years. I'm dedicating more time to the craft in my retirement days.
Another Visit From Saint Nick
Santa came
His usual game
Big bag of goodies
Long list of names
Sat by the hearth
Ho ho’ed his mirth
Ate the cookies
After he’d covered the earth
Same old drill
To me, it seemed
Honestly didn’t look
Like the life of one’s dreams
But then I swear
Something happened
A tear
A drop in the corner
Of his eye
I don’t know why
No, that’s a lie
I actually do
I could see him
Looking at the gifts
Under the tree
The stockings hung
By the brick chimney
Some with more care
Than others
The joy all around
He could feel it, you see
I just didn’t
Want to believe
I’d worked my whole life
To deceive
Myself
And others who’d listen
But this dude
He cared
It was right there
You could see it
And in any case
I had stayed up all night
‘Cause I wanted to have faith
But also substantiation
So who am I kidding
Besides me?
I snuck under the stairs
He didn’t know I was there
That’s what I thought
I’d never get caught
And just as I thunk it
About the time he grabbed
The milk and drunk it
Did the nose thing
Finger to the side
Up the chimney
Backwards slide
I felt like The Joker
Envying my foe
“Where does he get those wonderful toys?!”
But Nick’s was a trick
Not a toy
And I learned just then
He was more of a friend
Than a foe
When I heard in the air
A whisper
“You’ve been a good boy?”
A query
Not an observation
I looked around
Assessed the situation
I was alone
Under the stair
No one else there
But beside me a cookie
How did that get there?
And then I looked back to the tree
That would have made Charlie Brown green
Saw something for me
My name written there
And a note:
I won’t tell
If you won’t
Then ran to the door
Picked up my slippers
From off the floor
Donned them
Dashed to the yard
Stepped on my pajama pant leg
Tore it to tatters
Tripped on the power strip peg
A pretty good clatter
I pictured neighbors waking up
Ripping open shutters
Throwing back sashes
To see what was the matter
The lights wrapped me up
And pulled me down
Into the snow bank
On my back
Took my breath
Which when it returned
I could see
As I looked up
Into the cold night sky
Witnessed a most awesome fly by
And Santa looking down laughing
Not ho ho’ing
But ha ha’ing
Actually guffawing
And the red nose
Out front
Was blinking
Like a blinking beacon
And I ran my tongue
Along the roof of my mouth
Like the Bumble
Kind of
But I only lost two choppers
And, anyway, I need a ladder
To put on the toppers
Of Christmas trees
And also I don’t bounce
Like Bumbles do
I waved and smiled
A missing-front-tooth smile
Which reminded me of another song
And as I mentally sang along
Santa raised a red mitten
And waved right back
Swaying side to side
Ere he drove out of sight
What a night
And what a guy
With deer that can fly
Pull a sled into the sky
Stop and care
About people everywhere
All over
That’s a lot of love
And a lot of cookies, too
Must have a heart
Ten sizes too big
The Ms. must have to rig
Some special kinds of clothes
For that ticker and that belly
Oh well he
Might burn off some of those carbs
Hauling that big sack of goods
And then my train of thought was interrupted
When across the night sky
A loud cry erupted
In a voice that could be heard
From here to
Antananarivo
Which is pretty damn far
Considering
It’s in Madagascar
Can’t get there by car
Until you land on the island
Which is on the other side of the planet
From here
But then what I learned tonight
Is the big guy’s jollity
Is meant for all of humanity
So when the phrase unfurled
It was heard around the world:
“Merry Christmas to all
Bless us every one
All across the globe
And under the sun!”
"Bumbles Bounce"
© 2020 greg cain
