The lights are strung around the house
As they brighten up the darkest night
But the tree in the window looks kind of bare
Nothing but an angel and some lights
The trimmings lie in a box
Waiting for daddy to come home
Hopefully by Christmas Eve
The garland and bulbs will be hung
The presents are wrapped under the tree
All the Christmas shopping is done
Nothing left but to trim the tree
All the presents there but one
A present from daddy to mommy
He’ll make it home with any luck
Daddy’s delivering other presents
You see daddy drives a truck
A month goes by daddy's still on the road
Christmas only two days away
A call comes late in the night
It’s daddy he is on his way
Christmas Eve daddy's still not home
He should come rolling in, about any time
The phone rings and mommy's face turns white
Daddy jackknifed his rig somewhere down the line
It seems a car had cut him off
Coming down a West Virginia mountainside
When he slammed on his brakes he went into a skid
And they say he is lucky to be alive
Daddy is now in the hospital
critical condition in intensive care
As his family rushes to his side
Hoping he will know that they are there
A time goes by, still no change
And mommy has never left his side
She prays to God for him to wake up
So they can get on with their life
Then one night daddy makes a sound
And the tears flow from mommy’s eyes
Daddy is now awake and doing fine
Then they realize:
The tree in the window will be trimmed soon enough
And the nightmare has come to an end
Joy to the family with the answered prayer
That God sent daddy back to them again
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem