Angel Feathers

Night before Asterisk

Twas the night before asterisk
When all the apostrophes
Go joyfully dancing
In step with the commas!
Ampersands scamper off ink-stained paper
And full stops pepper floors instead of stories.

In Santa's workshop, elves are busy
Putting errant dots and semicolons to bed.
Slashes and dashes, dollars and snails,
All have their places to keep –
Otherwise, what sense would written words make?

Finally the last quotation mark is paired up and tucked in
And sleepy elves leave for their bunkers.
When everyone's gone and the workshop’s silent –
Chaos! Dots break free from their I’s,
Crossbars abandon T’s to become hyphens,
And exclamation points leap to new heights!

Oh my my… Ellipses, slow and steady, measure time
While digits frolic free and colons do gymnastics.
Where did the period at the end
of a rather overly long sentence go – with no end in sight,
I suppose a question mark will have to do?
Brawling brackets, hashtags playing on the monkey bars
And one lonely > points to a page devoid of meaning.

Santa peeks into his workshop, shining a lantern,
Golden glow bouncing off overexcited punctuation.
“Settle down, you tiny sillies,” he rumbles.
“How will children enjoy their books
If you aren't playing your parts to keep the words straight?”
Comma by colon, slash by dash, they stumble back
Lining up neatly where they should be.

He helps restore order out of chaos,
Waving a warning finger at winking parentheses.
“Dot your I’s and cross your T’s
And sleep in your beds rather than jumping on them!
Merry asterisks to all, and to all a good night!”

Notes ▼

36 lines, 265 words.
Written for "Writing 4 Kids" 
Prompt: You must begin your poem with either...
'Twas the ________ before Chriistmas, or
'Twas the night before ___________.
Just fill in the blank!
There's no line requirement or limit! Just have fun and be creative!