The Christmas Peril

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    ‘Twas the holiday season and all through the land,

    Bowls of eggnog were brewing, many parties were planned.

    From the branches and eaves, colored lights were all hung,

    And pianos were tuned so the carols could be sung.

    But something was lacking this particular year:

    A strange and mysterious disappearance of cheer.

    And listening closer, folks could all plainly hear it,

    The deafening silence of a lack of true spirit.

    The experts assembled in a moment of urgency,

    To examine what some called a national emergency.

    And the public demanded they learn at all cost,

    If the spirit of Christmas indeed had been lost.

    But in spite of the hours they spent on their quest,

    And the millions of dollars and all of the rest,

    When the final report was submitted for reading,

    The results it contained were in no way misleading.

    The consensus of those in the know, it appeared,

    Lent truth to suspicions that all of us feared,

    That the spirit of Christmas had been changed in a flash,

    To mass merchandising and a strong flow of cash.

    “Could this be the end,” the public was reeling,

    “Of chestnuts roasting, of holiday feeling,

    Of gathering families and long distance calls,

    Of pine cones and tinsel and Christmas tree balls?”

    “No!” cried the children. And the grown-ups cried, too.

    “There must be an answer or something to do.

    We can’t take this news being caught in a lurch.

    We must gather together and organize a search!”

    And search they all did, both the young and the old,

    From the warmth of the West to the North and its cold.

    But the looking was hard and in spite of their vim,

    The chances of finding the spirit grew dim.

    Then just when it looked like the looking was through,

    When smiles turned to frowns and emotions were blue,

    A child in Maine sat upright with a start.

    “I found it!” she screamed with her hand on her heart.

    When the experts arrived, the glow hadn’t subsided,

    From this sweet youngster’s heart with the spirit inside it.

    Then a wondrous discovery made their own hearts beat quicker,

    ‘Cause they found the same glow in everyone’s ticker.

    So, the spirit was there, not lost, just in hiding.

    In everyone’s heart, the glow was residing.

    And as soon as they stopped with their external quest,

    The experts proclaimed, “What’s inside is the best!”

    So, the ending is happy for this holiday tale,

    This short bit of verse celebrating Noel.

    We all know this story couldn’t happen for real,

    In the age of computers and the fast food meal.

    We’re much too perceptive. We’ve got it together.

    There isn’t a problem we all can’t weather.

    We’re perfectly safe. So, I’ll say without fear,

    “Have a wonderful Christmas and a happy new year!”

    Robert Allan Curtis