A little Christmas poem I cooked up in the style of "The Night Before Christmas" |
Parade of the Wooden Soldiers Lights are turned low and you’re tucked in your bed When slowly in the dark rolls a small spool of thread As if to a signal the toys all awake And into thunderous cheers they all break The toys are filling the room side to side No prying eyes around, they no longer need hide The dolls wear their best dresses, hair done up right They stand there arrayed in the soft twinkling light Suddenly someone calls out “Here they come!” And row upon row of the girls turn as one Indeed from the toy box the soldiers are marching In regal attire, their bayonets flashing Strands of confetti fill the night air The soldiers of wood proudly onward stare But all eyes are drawn to the leader of the host A magnificent Nutcracker at the captain’s post With a tall black hat and his sword drawn high At his flaming gaze all the dolls sigh His red formal jacket with medals overflowing He steps through the throng, his stride never slowing They exit the room and walk down the hall “To the fireplace!” together all the toys call They enter the kitchen and walking in mirth They stop the procession in front of the hearth The captain climbs up and addresses the crowd His deep, booming voice echoing loud “Our old friend Saint Nick is coming tonight And he asked for the help of our soldier’s might.” “He finds himself hard-pressed to deliver his gifts He hasn’t planned well, the elves missed some shifts So when he comes through he’ll be in quite a hurry But I told Santa Claus that he needn’t worry” “He’ll have the gifts ready when he lands on the roof As soon as they come down and land the first hoof He’ll sweep down the chimney and give them to us And then up again he’ll be gone in a flash” “After that the burden will fall unto us To carry the presents without too much fuss For certainly we would not want to awake The whole of the household and His trust to break!” As his words he finished they heard a strange sound Travelling down the chimney, it seemed to surround The whole of the kitchen, as a black boot appeared And Santa Claus followed, his face in soot smeared No sooner did he lay down his bundle of joy Than he sprang up again before any one toy Could utter a word and he called back to them “For your help in this business most indebted I am” The soldiers jumped at once to the task now at hand With the rest of the toys following the stern command Of the Nutcracker captain who directed their actions And made certain there were no needless distractions They finally carried them to the right place And placed them gingerly at the tree base Yet they weren’t yet at their leisure to rest The importance of not being found can’t be stressed! Yet for just one moment they survey their labor They each turn to smile and to praise their neighbor What a glorious sight that graces the room! These toys brought to life standing there in the gloom! Then they run back to their place in ones and in twos They must get there quickly, not a moment to lose For the house is stirring, their magic is spent Back to their blissful sleep they are sent And what of the sweet little girl who awakes? The one who owns all these toys and these games? She looks around puzzled at the dream she just had It’s clear from her eyes that she can’t understand Not a toy out of place, everything like last night From old Pumpkin Jack to the faithful White Knight Her stuffed animals neatly in a line Her dolls in the places that she did assign But after she finds the gifts under the tree She quickly forgets about it in her glee And she fails to notice the footprint of ash The only sign left of Santa’s quick dash And what of the toys that can no longer speak? Their future is not truly all that bleak For next year once more they may get the chance to aid ‘Till then they will dream of their lovely parade |