Christmas Eve

'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the blog,
Not a creature was croaking, not even a frog;
The posts were posted quite punctually,
In order for all to see.

The readers curled up tight and let down their hair,
Reading each and every blog post with care;
Nathan had long finished, and I was just done,
So I went for an evening of booze and fun.

When out in the internet there arose such a story,
I edited my post so that I wouldn't be sorry.
To the BBC I went, looking for more news,
And at last I discovered the cunning ruse.

A photographer had finally taken a picture, you see
One that, when I saw it, took the breath out of me,
As the image loaded, I was amazed at the sight,
Of a sleigh pulled by reindeer flying off to the night.

I studied the man in the sleigh and I gave a great pause,
For I knew right away that it could only be Santa Claus.
I remembered the reindeer from my childhood days,
And I drew their names out of my memory covered by haze;

"That's Dasher, and Dancer... Prancer and Vixen!
Oh, Comet, and Cupid, and Donder and Blitzen!
But where is the Rudolph, the reindeer lead?
Did he miss his flight because he drank too much mead?"

My question could not be answered, I feared,
For all I knew he had never even been reared.

Suddenly, I then heard on the rooftop a clunk,
And the sound of merry laughter from one filled with spunk.
I was surprised and I leaped up quick,
For I knew that moment that it must be Saint Nick!

I logged off my computer, and slowly turned around,
And out of the chimney Santa crashed to the ground;
His coat was thick, and was a very deep red,
Whereas I looked like I had just gotten out of bed.

A sack of gifts he dropped to the floor,
He ate all my cookies, and looked around for more;
He looked just like I imagined, from all those years ago,
After years and years of being told he wasn't so.

He saw me standing there, and just nodded his head,
Then set about his business leaving all words unsaid;
He set out the presents with good cheer,
He even filled my fridge with my favourite beer!

He laughed merrily as he continued his work,
And I just watched; all I did was lurk.
He turned to me and looked me in the eye,
He smiled and all my apprehensions seemed to die.

With a pat on the back and quick wink,
He went back up the chimney as fast as I could blink;
I looked out the window, and to my heart's delight,
I saw his sleigh fly off guided by a bright red light.

I sighed deeply and came back to the blog,
Yet already my memory of him was being obscured by fog;
I realized then that he gave to me the greatest of all,
For the Christmas Spirit had been rekindled within these walls.

And so I say unto you loudly with great might,
"Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good-night."

~Cow