The unexpected Gift

Impishly peering
Out of the lower boughs
Of the tree
Christmas waited,
Its bright eyes glistening
With reflected glory
Of Lights glowing.

As he was ready to
Reach out with a spell
That was bigger
Than he was,
Bigger than the whole world,
He got distracted
By a TV. special
About an old friend
And he daydreamed
Wondering if Rudolf
Still glowed as much
As he flew through the dark
And thinking about
How very much Rudolf
Enjoyed alfalfa and apples

But more importantly
He thought of the first Christmas
When he was an elf
Without a purpose
Wandering.
He had seen a bright
Star shining
On a stable and a manger
And, thinking it was peculiar,
He slid down
The star beam.
He saw a baby there,
A special child
Who would grow to show
His love
Proving how special
We were to Him.

The night was quiet
And quite beautiful and he decided
That he,as an elf
Would honor that child
Because of who he was
And the world He created.
He would spread the specialness
Of this night
By letting people understand
That a wonderful world
Had been made
And that the biggest and best
Gift of all
Was Christmas itself.


He was ready to share
This gift
But when he looked into his hat
He found it was dark and black
And really rather empty.
He had been so wrapped up
In watching T.V.
And supervising the placement
Of ornaments on the tree
That he had forgotten
His magic.
Here it was Christmas Eve
And all he had was
An empty hat

Perhaps there was still time.
He looked out at the evening
Seeing it was again  beautiful,clear,
And bright.
So he used his last bits of energy
Exiting through the window
To swoosh through the night
Gathering stars,
Little ones and
Big ones
Fitting them all into his hat
Which continually bulged
But seemed to have
Room for just one more.

He returned to the bough
Of his tree
Peeking out
Waiting until the time
Was just right
And all was ready.

He saw a family assembled
With Mom and Dad
Looking tired
Perhaps too tired.
No room for magic here,
The elf thought to himself.
Than he saw Amy,
Their little girl
Who bubbled and babbled
As she danced into the room.
Something big could still happen.
The little girl knew it.
The elf could see it
In her eyes.

Everyone was quiet
Subdued
And from the tree
He whispered "psst"
And Amy saw him,
A funny glow
By the shine of the
Red and yellow bulbs
She liked so well.

"Come closer"
The little man told her
"When I throw my hat
Into the air
You must catch
All the stars
Before they return to the skies.
Catch them, quickly
Hold them
And people will see
What you see.



Now the parents
Seemed preoccupied
With the party they          
Just attended
And sending Amy to bed
Quickly,
But for some reason
They stopped for a moment
As the room
Seemed to grow brighter.
The parents looked at their
Daughter with a new
Specialness
The elf could hear
Them thinking to themselves
    Perhaps it is worth it
As they looked at Amy's eyes
Which shone
Like ornaments on the tree
With a clarity
As black and golden
As a star filled sky