By Barbara Cox
There's a chill in the air and the sweet smell of pine
Friends coming together it's Christmas time
Children playing with sleds on the new fallen snow
Toys in store windows have their eyes all aglow
Chapel bells ringing from the old town square
Decorations on Main Street being put up with care
Christmas shoppers beginning to fill the malls
Where trees are adorned with garland and balls
Out Christmas shopping I spotted a sign
Santa's Work Shop, with children in line
I walked up closer so that I could hear
What the children wanted from Santa this year
When from in line I saw a young lad
By the look on his face, I could tell he was sad
I walked up closer so that I could see
As he took his turn upon Santa's knee
Santa, I don't want toys under the tree
All I want is my Daddy, here with Mommy and me
It's been so long since he's been gone
When he left the grass was still green on the lawn
You see, We're in the Military and he had to go
And Mommy and I miss him, more than you know
When I'm in bed and she thinks I'm asleep
She reads over his letters and starts to weep
But, if you can't do it, I'll understand
Since Daddy's been gone, I'm Mom's little man
As you deliver your presents, give a message from me
We gave up Christmas with Daddy, So children stay free!
TAKE AWAY JESUS
Written by: Raymond Joseph Girard (My son)
Inspired by JESUS
Take away Jesus and I would have nothing to give,
without my Lord Jesus, no reason to live.
That is why when I am thirsty and dry,
it is to Jesus alone, that I cry.
"Oh Lord, its me again in time of need",
and I know this is why you did bleed.
I need your Spirit, your hope and blessing,
for today I will learn another life's lesson.
Into the world I go clad with your Light,
against all of the evils, I shall use your might.
That is why when I am thirsty and dry,
it is to Jesus alone, that I cry.
SNOWFLAKES
Snowflakes softly falling
Upon your window they play
Your blankets snug around you,
Into sleep you drift away.
I bend to gently kiss you,
when I see that on the floor
there's a letter, neatly written
I wonder who it's for.
I quietly unfold it
making sure you're still asleep,
It's a Christmas list for Santa
one my heart will always keep.
It started just as always
with the toys seen on TV,
A new watch for your father
and a winter coat for me.
But as my eyes read on
I could see that deep inside
there were many things you wished for
that your loving heart would hide.
You asked if your friend Molly
could have another Dad;
It seems her father hits her
and it makes you very sad.
Then you asked dear Santa
if the neighbors down the street
Could find a job, that he might have
some food, and clothes, and heat.
You saw a family on the news
whose house had blown away,
"Dear Santa, send them just one thing,
a place where they can stay."
"And Santa, those four cookies that
I left you for a treat,
Could you take them to the children
who have nothing else to eat."
"Do you know that little bear I have
the one I love so dear?
I'm leaving it for you to take
to Africa this year."
"And as you fly your reindeer
on this night of Jesus' birth,
Could your magic bring to everyone
goodwill and peace on earth."
"There's one last thing before you go,
so grateful I would be,
If you'd smile at Baby Jesus
in the manger by our tree."
I pulled the letter close to me'
I felt it melt my heart.
Those tiny hands had written
what no other could impart.
"And a little child shall lead them,"
was whispered in my ear
As I watched you sleep on Christmas Eve
while Santa Claus was here.
"THE SOLDIERS NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS"
By Major Bruce W. Lovely
TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS,
HE LIVED ALL ALONE,
IN A ONE BEDROOM HOUSE MADE OF
PLASTER AND STONE.
I HAD COME DOWN THE CHIMNEY
WITH PRESENTS TO GIVE,
AND TO SEE JUST WHO
IN THIS HOME DID LIVE.
I LOOKED ALL ABOUT,
A STRANGE SIGHT I DID SEE,
NO TINSEL, NO PRESENTS,
NOT EVEN A TREE.
NO STOCKING BY MANTLE,
JUST BOOTS FILLED WITH SAND,
ON THE WALL HUNG PICTURES
OF FAR DISTANT LANDS.
WITH MEDALS AND BADGES,
AWARDS OF ALL KINDS,
A SOBER THOUGHT
CAME THROUGH MY MIND.
FOR THIS HOUSE WAS DIFFERENT,
IT WAS DARK AND DREARY,
I FOUND THE HOME OF A SOLDIER,
ONCE I COULD SEE CLEARLY.
THE SOLDIER LAY SLEEPING,
SILENT, ALONE,
CURLED UP ON THE FLOOR
IN THIS ONE BEDROOM HOME.
THE FACE WAS SO GENTLE,
THE ROOM IN SUCH DISORDER,
NOT HOW I PICTURED
A UNITED STATES SOLDIER.
WAS THIS THE HERO
OF WHOM I'D JUST READ?
CURLED UP ON A PONCHO,
THE FLOOR FOR A BED?
I REALIZED THE FAMILIES
THAT I SAW THIS NIGHT,
OWED THEIR LIVES TO THESE SOLDIERS
WHO WERE WILLING TO FIGHT.
SOON ROUND THE WORLD,
THE CHILDREN WOULD PLAY,
AND GROWNUPS WOULD CELEBRATE
A BRIGHT CHRISTMAS DAY.
THEY ALL ENJOYED FREEDOM
EACH MONTH OF THE YEAR,
BECAUSE OF THE SOLDIERS,
LIKE THE ONE LYING HERE.
I COULDN'T HELP WONDER
HOW MANY LAY ALONE,
ON A COLD CHRISTMAS EVE
IN A LAND FAR FROM HOME.
THE VERY THOUGHT
BROUGHT A TEAR TO MY EYE,
I DROPPED TO MY KNEES
AND STARTED TO CRY.
THE SOLDIER AWAKENED
AND I HEARD A ROUGH VOICE,
"SANTA DON'T CRY,
THIS LIFE IS MY CHOICE;
I FIGHT FOR FREEDOM,
I DON'T ASK FOR MORE,
MY LIFE IS MY GOD,
MY COUNTRY, MY CORPS."
THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER
AND DRIFTED TO SLEEP,
I COULDN'T CONTROL IT,
I CONTINUED TO WEEP.
I KEPT WATCH FOR HOURS,
SO SILENT AND STILL
AND WE BOTH SHIVERED
FROM THE COLD NIGHT'S CHILL.
I DIDN'T WANT TO LEAVE
ON THAT COLD, DARK, NIGHT,
THIS GUARDIAN OF HONOR
SO WILLING TO FIGHT.
THEN THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER,
WITH A VOICE SOFT AND PURE,
WHISPERED, "CARRY ON SANTA,
IT'S CHRISTMAS DAY, ALL IS SECURE."
ONE LOOK AT MY WATCH,
AND I KNEW HE WAS RIGHT.
"MERRY CHRISTMAS MY FRIEND,
A DIAMOND IN THE SKY
By FRANK G. GROSS
U.S.M.C. (Ret.)
'Twas two weeks plus before Christmas
on the day of December Seven
no bells to ring, or choirs to sing
as the snowflakes fell from heaven
No shopping sprees or Christmas trees
for this brotherhood of men
Gods gift that night moved into
sight
when the star came back again
The wind blew hard and chilling cold
beneath that starless sky
where the frost would bite like fire
and the snow refused to die
Emotions from their silent prayers was showing from each eye
and from their lips that silent wish
for that diamond, that diamond in the sky.
Oh God, how much we need it
each soul inside did cry
as they prayed to see that diamond appearing in the sky
Then just before the light of dawn
you could hear the joyous shout
our prayers have just been answered
for our star has just come out
In ancient days God gave a sign
to the shepherds and wise men too
and a similar sign was seen by men
that are known as the Chosin Few
There is a star they shout with a tear dimmed eye
oh praise in rhyme at Christmas time
for that diamond that diamond in the sky.
Men buttoned up their parkas
and stood to shake off the snow
then gathered up their courage
for the last few miles to go
Through the enemy lines at Koto Ri
they fought with spirits high
inspired by Gods special star they called
The Diamond In The Sky
Like the twinkling lights of Christmas
that sparkle on the tree
the stars soon came in multitudes
and they lighted up Koto Ri
Through the clearing skies the Corsairs came
flying chariots filled the air
like Cavalry men to the rescue
and our guiding star was there
For it was our star....
it was our star
it was our diamond
Our Diamond In The Sky
THE WALK TO FREEDOM
By FRANK G. GROSS
U.S.M.C. (Ret.)
It was a long cold walk to freedom
To the calm of the morning sun.
As the task begins in the freezing winds
on a journey that must be won.
They walked away from burning homes
and barely shed a tear,
They walked away from treachery
and walked away from fear.
It was a miracle at Christmas,
Forty years ago,
When one hundred thousand refugees
Had braved the blizzard snow.
An old man in his sixties
carried a heavy pack
of food, of clothes and blankets,
on the A-Frame on his back.
The strength of the solid frame
And the courage held inside,
Started by wife, son and daughter,
increased the father's pride.
Each step a vote for freedom
When so many walked away,
to find a path of peace on earth,
that many know today.
It was a long cold walk to freedom,
to the calm of the morning sun,
in the freezing winds where the task began,
The journey now is won.
It was a Miracle at Christmas
Of forty years ago.
When one hundred thousand refugees
Had braved the blizzard snow.
The Net Before Christmas
By Jim Trudeau & Jay Trudeau (1991)
With apologies to Clement C. Moore
'Twas the night before Christmas and all through the nets
Not a mousie was stirring, not even the pets.
The floppies were stacked by the modem with care
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there.
The files were nestled all snug in a folder
The screen saver turned on, the weather was colder.
And leaving the keyboard along with my mouse
I turned from the screen to the rest of the house.
When up from the drive there arose such a clatter
I turned to the screen to see what was the matter.
Away to the mouse I flew like a flash,
Zoomed open a window in fear of a crash...
The glow from the screen on the keyboard below
Gave an electronic luster to all my macros.
When what to my wondering eyes should appear
But a little sleigh icon with eight tiny reindeer
And a tiny disk driver so SCSI and quick
I knew in a nano it must be Saint Nick.
More rapid than trackballs his cursors they came,
He whistled and shouted and faxed them by name.
"Now Flasher! Now Dasher! Now Raster and Bixel!
On Phosphor! On Photon! On Baudrate and Pixel!
To the top of the stack. To the top of the heap."
Then each little reindeer made a soft beep.
As data that before the wild electrons fly,
When they meet with a node, mount to the drive,
So up to the screentop the cursors they flew
With a sleigh full of disks and databits, too.
And then in a twinkling I heard the high whine
Of a modem connecting at a baud rate so fine.
As I gazed at the screen with a puzzling frown
St. Nicholas logged on though I thought I was down.
He was dressed all in bytes from header to footer
And the words on the screen said "Don't you reboot 'er."
A bundle of bits he had flung on his back
And he looked like a programmer starting his hack.
His eyes how they glazed, his hair was so scary,
His cola was jolt, not flavored with cherry.
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a GIF
And the pixels of his beard sure gave me a lift.
The stump of a routine he held tight in his code
And I knew he had made it past the last node.
He spoke not a word but looked right at me
And I saw in a flash his file was .SEA.
He self-decompressed and I watched him unfold,
Into a jolly old elf, a sight to behold.
And the whispering sound of my hard drive's head
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.
He went straight to his work without saying a word
And filled all the folders of this happy nerd.
And 'tis the whole truth, as the story is told,
That giving a nod up the window he scrolled,
He sprang to the serial port as if truly on fire
And away they all flew down the thin copper wire.
But I heard him exclaim as he scrolled out of sight
"Happy Christmas to All, and to all a good night."
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