The Night before Christmas

A rythmical exercise in nostalgia honoring a Christmas Eve ritual of a place I hold dear.

Twas the eve before Christmas
...and all through the night
the saints a caroling
under city street lights

we muse of
a miracle birth
our Lord Jesus
embodied on earth

and sing of
a plight so dreary
that would befall
Joseph and Mary

at the inn
refused as strangers
our good Lord
must rest in a manger

our lyric then turn
to a grassy knoll
shepherds at night
are on patrol

shouts of angels
intrude the quiet
their hallelujahs
incite a praise riot

the herdsmen afraid,
shake their knees
but news of good tidings
soon set them at ease

glimpse the Lord
with their eyes
and to the world
they evangelize

magi then come
of from afar
who then follow
the bright East star

worship the Lord
with their gifts
gold,myrrh
and frankincense

thus there lie
the storied bliss
the foreshadow
of Christmas

these words
spoken true
by brothers
Luke and Matthew

twas the night before Christmas
and all through the night
the saints a caroling
under city street lights