I can still feel with my fingertips
the small cool pools of water
gathered on the windowsill
see my breath cloud its pale stain
on my frozen bedroom window pane
and the stars peeking
like me
their tiny holes in a clear night sky
He’d have no trouble finding his way
no excuse to pass me by
except perhaps that one promise
I’d been quite unable to keep
I should have been asleep by now.
But how?
With that big cold moon’s scary glow
and those whispering jingle bells.
Surely he couldn’t mind
if it was just me that saw him.
I’d never tell - I promise!
Oh.
Well…
Scampering back into bed
pulling the blankets up to my chin
clutching them as hard
as I was shutting my eyes tight
Praying.
I wished I may, I wished I might
How could one night be so long
Just when you needed it not to be.
It was just…wrong!
I was strong but this fight was exhausting.
If I could have held out just one more minute
I would have seen him,
maybe even gone for that sleigh-ride.
Still, it was probably best.
I’d never have passed the test
of keeping that promise -
would have just had to tell
what I ought not.
Oh well, forget about that.
Let’s see what he brought!
Author notes
Writing jaundice about Christmas has become a knee-jerk reflex with this poet and too many others. This is a conscious effort to redress that balance a little and is therefore unashamadely corny, just like my favourite Christmas movie, 'It's a Wonderful Life'.
In a list
Please tell me what you think
Comments
1 - 17 of 17
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I think it's in the states that either a state or a chain of department stores wants to outlaw "HO HO HO" and have all Santa Clauses bellow "HA HA HA" instead. Most of the Santas are in revolt, understandably.
This is not corny, it's Christmas, and the language is just right, flow and rhythm adds to the spirit. "It's a Wonderful Life" is corny but it's a captivating corniness, and tongue in cheek, I'm sure that's the way Jimmy Stewart played it too.
My first experience with Santa was scary. It was the year after TV's swept into every living room and it was Christmas Eve, the family huddled around the tube. Then a rapping on window glass and loud sound of rattling bells, I ran to the window and a real-life Santa was standing outside in the snow. It freaked me out, I guess I was about 3 and I went up like an air raid siren. It turned out to be a friend of my father's but I never really settled down to tell him what I wanted him to deliver the following day. Must have been a strange combination of absorption in TV and then the real life image of a bearded guy jumping up and down in the snow.
Anyway good work on this John, reads like a classic. Cheers, MJ
. Rewarded 8
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haha
LoL oh yea, I can definately feel the spirit of that movie inside of this poem, they are both drawn from the same well I believe. I don't think there are many out there who believed in santa that haven't had some type of experience like this, which makes it so great, b/c of all of the poems here I never read a christmas poem this childishly honest and open. A very admirable step in a new direction like you said, trying to balance things out a bit. I loved reading the part about fighting the sleep and how if ya had just one more minute then you could have had him. But you can still find the good in it by realizing you couldnt have kept such a huge secret at that age anyways, maybe not even now if you/we were to find it to be true. Overall I really enjoyed this poem, I liked the imagery, I could actually feel the cold wet glass on my fingers and nose while pressing my face against the window trying to see all angles into the sky, leaving that same cloudy/steamy blur of moisture. A Very nice read, hope to hear some comments from ya soon and I'll be looking for your work as always.
TTYL
MM
. Rewarded 8
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just like the stories I've read
I never believed in Santa for some reason so I was more inclined to get my thrills from searching for my presents in my parents' closet the days before. But if I did believe in him, I would have felt exactly this way. I'm sure of it.
. Rewarded 4
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I've never experienced christmas because i'm Jewish but this really gave the feel for it. It totally sounds like what a child would do. I feel like I've experienced it now, on some level. It's a great poem. Good job capturing the spirit!!
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Quite enjoyable...
Christmas in March? Why not! At least that is what I will need to settle for since it took me so long to discover this one. It is a great piece. In a way I am glad I read it now because isn't it nice to be reminded of this all throughout the year. Corny? Maybe. But if that is true, than I am 100% guilty of loving the corny stuff in life. "It's a Wonderful Life" is my favorite, too... I even watched it and analyzed it with my reading group this year since none of the 4th graders had ever seen it! (The inspiration to watch it came from the line in "Charlotte's Web" that reads: "The animals gathered around the barn like boys at a drugstore.") The kids hadn't a clue why that line made sense. The book was written in 1953 and I used George Bailey in the drugstore as a reference... they were still clueless. So we watched the movie in the three days before Christmas Break when they can't focus on work anyway. I will also add that a modern day favorite of mine is "Elf"... I just saw it last year but that movie seriously cracks me up. Anyway, enough of my Christmas stories. lol Very nice job with this one and I hope it is brought back out in time for Christmas next year!
. Rewarded 8
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Delightful.
I didn't see this during "the season" for some reason but am glad to have stumbled on it now. You recreate the child-you's excitement so poignantly, the eagerness, the innocent guilt, the anxiety. It's beautifully done WH and if you made it into Christmas cards on this lovely blue background next year I'd have a dozen.
Best RA
. Rewarded 6
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What a jaunt through Christmas night! We should all regress to what Christmas is all about - from the eyes of children. Loved it!!
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Merry Christalus
Glad you liked this one and a Merry Christmas to you Butterfly. >W<
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John, just like Jimmy Stewart, this poet's inner child wins the day, and re-captures the often forgotten blessings of what Christmas is supposed to mean for us. And if that's corny, I'll have another heaping plateful.
I hear the resonance of two promises in this - the promise not to tell if only he would let you see him at last, and the deeper promise 'to be good.' And, being only flesh and blood, we, along with the poet here, can't possibly keep either of them - and thank the Lord for a' that.
I think that if a poet ever forgets, or worse, renounces, the child in him, he ought to trash his pens and paper, because he'll never again speak plainly and simply to human hearts, whether of children or of adults, or even of life itself. You haven't forgotten or renounced, which means there are long-wrapped gifts to be opened. "Now, let's see what he brought!" - more than we think.
My favorite Christmas movie is "Miracle on 34th Street" - with your homie-girl, lovely Maureen O'Hara, and with the same message as your favorite holiday movie. They speak the same poetry: Cheers to all of good will and unforgettable imagination. A beauty of a poem, Windhover, as I knew it would be just seeing the title.
Lad
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2 old softeees
Awwww Lad, you're an even bigger softee than I am. But yes, I agree - if I ever become so jaundiced and cynical that I can't enjoy stuff like 'It's a Wonderful Life' or 'Scrooge' I will indeed , I hope, pack in writing altogether, for what use is the dissemination of doom, gloom and cycicism? Christmas spirit has found me early this year. I hope it sticks around! Thanks as always for reading and commenting. >W<
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Very beautiful, the dicription of the cold night was very
perfect. I felt like I was there. You could be very famous one day! -
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Autographs on request
Thank you for your cheerful thoughts Benjie. I doubt that I'll ever be famous but your comment was a great fillip to my delusions of adequacy and you cheered me up. Merry Christmas. >W<
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hey john
not corny at all. i think this does capture the christmas spirit tthat we (adults) lack, which is buried in the youth of our christmas pasts, you do a good job bringing these memories and the feelings associated with them back to the surface.
oh crap, its the the 13th already and i havent even started shopping yet.
dave. Rewarded 6
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Ho ho ho!
Christmas Cheers Professor! Is it true that 'ho ho ho' has been banned on US radio as being derogatory slang against women? Even if it isn't there must be a poem there somewhere.
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Great job with imagery windhover I really liked -- see my breath cloud its pale stain
on my frozen bedroom window pane
and the stars peeking
like me
their tiny holes in a clear night sky
An emotional poem in places. The enitre piece had a smooth flow
A very creative and wel written piece
Cindy
Merry Christmas
. Rewarded 6
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Thanks Cindy
I've written a good few jaundiced poems about consummerism and Christmas. But I actually love the season and this one was an attempt to recapture some of the wonder that it has always held for me. Glad you liked it and thanks for commenting so kindly here. >W<
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