This was written and submitted to the Arlington list >> ?Twas the night before Christmas, but Covid was here, >> So we all had to stay extra cautious this year. >> Our masks were all hung by the chimney with care >> In case Santa forgot his and needed a spare. >> With Covid, we couldn't leave cookies or cake >> So we left Santa hand sanitizer to take. >> >> The children were sleeping, the brave little tots. >> The ones over 5 had just had their first shots, >> And mom in her kerchief and me in my cap >> Had just settled in for a long winter's nap. >> But we tossed and we turned all night in our beds >> As visions of variants danced in our heads. >> >> Gamma and Delta and now Omicron >> These Covid mutations that go on and on >> I thought to myself, "If this doesn't get better, >> I'll soon be familiar with every Greek letter". >> >> Then just as I started to drift off and doze >> A clatter of noise from the front lawn arose. >> I leapt from my bed and ran straight down the stair >> I opened the door, and an old gent stood there. >> >> His N95 made him look pretty weird >> But I knew who he was by his red suit and beard. >> I kept six feet away but blurted out quick >> " What are you doing here, jolly Saint Nick?" >> >> Then I said, "Where's your presents, your reindeer and sleigh ? >> Don't you know that tomorrow will be Christmas Day? ". >> And Santa stood there looking sad in the snow >> As he started to tell me a long tale of woe. >> >> He said he'd been stuck at the North Pole alone >> All his white collar elves had been working from home, >> And most of the others said "Santa, don't hire us! >> We can live off the CERB now, thanks to the virus". >> >> Those left in the toyshop had little to do. >> With supply chain disruptions, they could make nothing new. >> And as for the reindeer, they'd all gone away. >> None of them left to pull on his sleigh. >> >> He said Dasher and Dancer were in quarantine, >> Prancer and Vixen refused the vaccine, >> Comet and Cupid were in ICU, >> So were Donner and Blitzen, they may not pull through. >> >> And Rudolph's career can't be resurrected. >> With his shiny red nose, they all think he's infected. >> Even with his old sleigh, Santa couldn't go far. >> Every border to cross needs a new PCR. >> >> Santa sighed as he told me how nice it would be >> If children could once again sit on his knee. >> He couldn't care less if they're naughty or nice >> But they'd have to show proof that they'd had their shot twice. >> >> But then the old twinkle returned to his eyes. >> And he said that he'd brought me a Christmas surprise. >> When I unwrapped the box and opened it wide, >> Starlight and rainbows streamed out from inside. >> >> Some letters whirled round and flew up to the sky >> And they spelled out a word that was 40 feet high. >> There first was an H, then an O, then a P, >> Then I saw it spelled HOPE when it added the E. >> >> "Christmas magic" said Santa as he smiled through his beard. >> Then suddenly all of the reindeer appeared. >> He jumped into his sleigh and he waved me good-bye, >> Then he soared o'er the rooftops and into the sky. >> >> I heard him exclaim as he drove out of sight >> "Get your vaccines my friends, Merry Christmas, good-night". >> Then I went back to bed and a sweet Christmas dream >> Of a world when we'd finished with Covid 19. >>
Sent from Susan Winship, LICSW -- The LincolnTalk mailing list. To post, send mail to Lincoln@lincolntalk.org. Search the archives at http://lincoln.2330058.n4.nabble.com/. Browse the archives at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/. Change your subscription settings at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln.
