A Christmas Ending

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This is my Christmas poem which was inspired by my daughter on a walk home from school. The first two or three verses I improvised off the top of my head and then I finished the rest later that afternoon. This is the child-friendly version. I personally prefer the poem if you substitute the penultimate word for a more powerful adjective but I shall leave it up to you to make the switch or not according to your taste. 

A Christmas Ending

It’s deepest winter,

Snow on ground,

When from outside, 

I hear a sound.

A distant bray,

A muffled yell,

A screech! A slam!

A silenced bell. 

Through the window,

I can see,

That Santa’s crashed,

Into a tree.

The sledge is broken,

Rudolph’s legged it,

It looks from here,

Like Santa’s pegged it.

I rush outside,

And from the snow,

I hear a plaintive,

Ho! Ho! Nooooo…!

Beneath the oak tree,

Between the roots, 

Protrude a pair,

Of big black boots. 

I tug on them,

Then on all fours, 

I dig out a sorry,

Santa Claus.

His mouth is droopy,

His beard’s forlorn,

His belly sags,

His suit’s all torn.

“Blooming reindeer!

They’re to blame,

Every Christmas, 

It’s the same,

“I told the elves,

Just yesterday,

‘If they don’t listen,

They’ll crash the sleigh!

"'It’ll end in tears,

If in mid-flight, 

I say left,

And they fly right!’

"And now, my sleigh!

Just look at it!

Christmas is over!

I’m done! I quit!”

At that he turns,

And heads indoors,

No more Santa,

No more Claus.

He shaves his beard,

Removes his suit,

I try my best,

He’s resolute,

There’s no persuading;

To my dismay,

There’ll be no gifts,

On Christmas Day.

Stockings hung,

Beside the tree,

Will stay unfilled,

Unfortunately.

We spend Christmas night,

Him and me,

Drinking beer,

Watching TV,

At dawn we hear,

As a new day starts,

The sound of children’s,

Breaking hearts.

But don’t you doubt,

Who's to blame here,

Leave Santa out,

‘Twas the flipping reindeer. 

By Pete Thomas