Before I begin, I have to say that this reminded me uncannily of Imogen Heap's "Hide and Seek". The image of the dust daring to fall, the world responding as though in communion with the narrator despite being unaware of her pain. It is really quite heartbreaking.
The poem began so strongly in my opinion. The rhythm drags you forward in procession, but the line breaks stagger this into a form of uncertainty, giving moments of pause as though in sadness and lostness. Plus, the internal rhyme in the second line provides an additional counterpoint, creating a greater sense of order but in contrast to the meter and the line breaks. All in all, the world seems out of kilter, but it still flows on.
The only other comment I have is that giving the possessive to "loves" *plural* in the second to last line served as a kind of hiccup against an otherwise smoothly flowing poem. I tried for a bit to see whether or not using love in the plural would be appropriate there, but I think it would be better put as "love's", maybe even capitalized for more personification. Or, if plurality is desired, adding an article "the" before "loves'" would help the reader realize the plurality beforehand.
That's all! Thank you for sharing, and I enjoyed the poem immensely.
Or perhaps tradition sits too comfortably on its cornerstone--no, who am I kidding, Blitzen's a keeper!
This was fun! I enjoyed it "all the way down": the hyperbolically vivid imagery (I loved the bashful pupils), the figures of speech, the delicious word choices (my favorite was "schmucks mucking custom", that was so nice to savor). It was regal yet irreverent, honest yet mocking. All in all, an enjoyable 37 lines. Though I have at this point spent too much time with my head tilted trying to see Santa's sleigh in the stepped margin...
As far as suggestions (which are only grammar related): I actually had to look this up because I was not sure, but it appears as though "time out" is one word in sports related contexts and a two word noun phrase in all others. So you're probably good there. It just threw me for a loop having never really seen it written as to distinct words.
The only other incident that messed up the otherwise enjoyable flow of this piece was the first line of the second paragraph (stanza?):
"I sat there in tizzy of befuddlement..."
There should be an article in front of tizzy, and that might even help make that line stand out a little longer than the one below it.
Those are all my thoughts! Thank you for sharing this, and I hope no one else tries to ruin your traditions.
Cheers,
Topher
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