A (belated) Holiday Poem

For this week's post, I want to share a poem I wrote. I hope you enjoy it.

T'was the Evening of Christmas by Evan Joseph

T'was the evening of Christmas and all through the house,

There were tons of new gadgets: a new keyboard and mouse.

The Blu-Ray was open, and so was the Wii,

Each one hooked up to a sep’rate TV.

The children were setting iphones by their beds

With earbuds from ipods plugged into their heads.

And Ma with her Kindle and I with my Nook,

Were each settled in with a digital book.

Grandma was typing, all tippity-tap

On the notebook computer that sat on her lap,

Googling and asking, “Now, what’s all this hype,

With Twitter, and Myspace, and Facebook, and Skype?”

And none of us noticed, all snuggly and warm

The weather outside was beginning to storm.

The clear sky was turning all cloudy and foul;

The wind was a-whipping and starting to howl.

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter

I paused the Tivo to see what was the matter.

Away to the window I flew like a flash,

Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The wind had ripped off of the sycamore tree

An oversized branch just as quick as can be.

It hit a transformer, whose sparkling glow

Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below.

The box blew apart with a bright flash of spark.

The whole house got suddenly quiet and dark.

Little Timmy ran in and he cried with a shout,

“The internet’s down and the power’s gone out!”

Then Suzy chimed in with a terrible cry,

“If I can’t check my email I think I’ll just die.”

We sat in the dark for a minute or two,

None of us knowing just what we should do.

But then I thought back to when I was a kid

And remembered a wonderful thing that we did.

I got out a candle, a long yellow taper,

And a book that was made up of actual paper.

I gathered my wondering fam’ly around,

Folks on the sofa and kids on the ground.

I opened the cover and found the right spot:

A story I knew from when I was a tot.

Before I could read them the very first line,

Timmy said, “Dad, will this take too much time?”

And Suzy was certain the whole thing would stink,

“We’re too old for stories, Dad, wouldn’t you think?”

I told them to wait and to give it a shot

Before they decide it was worth it or not.

They grumbled a little, a moment or so,

Then finally decided to give it a go.

They sat and they listened, and after a while,

That frowny complexion turned into a smile.

They sat a bit taller and inched ‘cross the floor

As if they were trying to hear even more.

And as we were nearing the very best part,

The lights flickered on, we all jumped with a start.  

Without even thinking, not missing a beat.

Timmy hopped up to his quick little feet.

“Let’s finish!” he said with a grin on his lip,

Then ran to the light switch and gave it a flip.

We finished our tale by the soft candlelight,

Reading together well into the night.

Then Timmy and Suzy got ready for bed;

I tucked each one in with a kiss on the head.

To each child I said as I turned out the light,

“Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.”