Sunday, December 20, 2015

28 Xmas Stories, 23: "Xmas up and disappeared."

We Went Off All A’Riding (A Xmas Epic Poem, Part 1.)
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We went off all a’riding,
My wife, my sons, and me.
We set out to find Xmas –
Which for years had not been seen.

It used to be that Xmas-time
Came reg’lar, once per year.
But then, that one December
Xmas up and disappeared.

We all had done our trees up,
Got our Xmas baking done.
We’d finished all our shopping,
Then Xmas… didn’t come.

The children noticed first, of course,
But soon e’now we all
Felt that missing Xmas tear
Our spirits wall to wall.

We sat amidst the splendor
Of our now-cold Xmas feasts.
We tried to still our trembling hands –
And hearts inside our breasts.

Xmas never came that year
Nor next year, or the next.
A score of years December
Has now left us all perplexed.

By then there were but few of us
Who still remembered Yule,
Who still put up a Xmas tree.
The rest just called us fools.

But never lost our faith, did we,
As each new winter set.
We’d go through all the motions,
Lest the whole wide world forget.

Give up the Xmas caroling,
The stockings care’fly hung?
Let go the Xmas pudding?
Then all would be undone.

With each new winter colder,
With each day darker still,
We’d fight to keep the dream alive.
We’d battle ‘gainst the chill.

Finally our poor dismal lives
We couldn’t bear no more.
“We must do something now!” we cried
And so our group set forth.

That’s why we went a’riding,
My wife, my sons, and me.
Do you wonder what we found?
What strange things we did see?

I’ll tell you all about them friend,
Just let me sit a spell.
Our journey wasn’t easy, mind,

I fear I am not well.

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