A Christmas Miracle Poem by David Harris

A long time ago
in a land far away,
snowflakes fluttered down from the sky
like falling stars
on houses and garden walls.
A young boy was dreaming
of a wonderful Christmas day.
He dreamed of things
that he would like to happen.
The gifts around the Christmas tree.
Gifts for his parents,
his brother and his sisters.
It was just a dream though,
a dream on Christmas Eve.
His family were poor,
barely had enough money
to keep them all fed.
As Christmas loomed
there was no money
for any special treats.
Just enough to be thankful
they all had something to eat.

The snowflakes kept falling
laying its white blanket
on the ground.
The north wind bit everything
as it yelled its mournful sound.
The cold ate into everyone,
as the family fire grew dim.
Soon everyone retired
to their beds for the night.
The little boy dreamed
what his wonderful
Christmas would be;
knowing all the while,
it was just futility.
The wind rattled
the windows and the doors
as in theirs beds they slept.
Nothing stirred within the house;
every one had gone to sleep.

In the morning, the wind had passed,
but the cold still held its chill
over every living thing.
Slowly sleepy heads awoke
as if it was a normal day.
They crept slowly from their beds
for their breakfast.
They entered the living room
they stopped in the doorway,
their mouths open in shock.
The bare room when they went to bed
was now decorated with a tree.
Beneath it were presents for everyone.
Their names were on the tags,
but from whom was blank.
Who had done this in the night,
had entered and left
without making a sound?
The children on seeing everything,
their faces beamed
from ear to ear at the sight they saw.
The little boy rubbed his sleepy eyes,
looked and looked again.
His dream had come true.

This Christmas was going to be
the best year in their lives.
The children opened their presents.
Everything they had wished for
was there except for one,
and it was for their father.
For so long he had been without a job.
The one thing they wanted for him
was to be able to work again,
but there was no job
underneath the tree.
They hadn’t noticed a letter
standing on the fireplace.

It was after all the excitement
had to begun to die down
and the fire was about to be lit
that someone noticed it.
As the letter was opened,
the Christmas miracle
began to fall into place.
The letter was an offer of a job.
The smiles on everyone’s faces
told the whole story now
and the Christmas miracle
was now complete.
No one ever discovered
what happened that day
or who it was
who performed the Christmas Miracle.

17- 18 July 2008