A Dark Christmas Poem (2005)

IN SEARCH OF SAINT NICK





GETTING THERE

On my ninth birthday November this year,

I made a decision as Christmas drew near,

I thought it would be wise for myself,

To find out about Santa, the North Pole, the elf,

My father being one with money to spare,

Myself being someone not scared to dare,

With Internet handy and 16 little digits,

Online I went and found the airline booking widgets,

I’d made up my mind the Christmas before,

That I’d be ready this Yuletide with bags by the door,

It bugged me and bugged me for my brief junior history,

About the story I’d been told, the great Christmas mystery,

I had done some research at the library at school,

About where I might find the jolly old fool,

For fool I had resolved the large fat man had to be,

When I looked at the silly things he’d given me,

North I must head if I am to find his abode,

So it was no point taking baggage and hitting the road,

To the skies I must take like the old saint himself,

By plane though, not reindeer, big sleigh and elf,

So sitting one night at my father’s computer,

I looked about slyly like a no-gooder, a looter,

The flight I did book and the plan it was set,

I knew I’d have little trouble getting on the jet,

For me I was streetwise, though nine I was only,

I could make out to all that I wouldn’t be lonely,

My passport I had from a previous trip,

In this day and age nobody would give a rip,

Within hours I was on the plane up into the sky,

Nobody had asked after me, or even asked why,

A young lad heading Northward in cold winter time,

Shouldn’t he be heading for warmer clime?

Regardless I landed and then headed out of town centre,

My quarry I knew required country venture,

Out to the countryside I trudged with my gear,

I’d packed light with snacks so I had no fear.



A CHANCE ENCOUNTER



Through snow and the wind I trudged for hours on end,

‘Til out in the middle of nowhere I went,

I came to a creek, almost frozen across,

I decided to follow it; no ford was no loss,

My direction was aimless, but I determined I was,

To find this old saint and tell him who’s boss,

For I’d heard from my pal at the school where I board,

Something so amazing I ate every word,

That the old fellow could be found if you were proficient,

In getting up far enough North as was sufficient,

There would you find his winter abode,

And joy from within you would begin to explode,

As you saw all the marvels and amazing things,

That Father Christmas and all that is Christmas brings,

The image burned bright in my mind for ages,

I couldn’t take time to get there saving my wages,

Elves and toy factories, sweet candy canes,

Wish lists and despatches, a long list of names,

Children receiving their every delight,

Oh how so grand, what heaven, what might!

I devised my plan and soon here was I,

Cold, freezing and starting to look to the sky,

As snowflakes drifted downwards by the side of the creek,

My legs were aching and feeling quite weak,

As in my daze I looked up the shore,

I saw one man standing; there could not have been more,

He looked at me steady, then walked up my way,

I realised I hadn’t much energy left for the day,

All dressed in black, and rugged up from the cold,

I couldn’t make out his face, but his speech showed him old,

“What’s a young lad like you doing out here so far?

Where’s yer dad, son, have maybe ye lost class=SpellE>yer ma?”

“No sir” I cried, and started to whimper,

I had thought finding Santa would be much simpler,

“Yer looking for someone, aren’t yer
me lad?”

Said the old fellow leering and I felt very bad,

What had I done, where had I gone?

Would my father never again see his son?

“Santa” I mumbled, and let out a cry,

I started to wonder at all reasons why,

I’d come up with my scheme in such a hurry,

Now father I’d given plenty for worry,

Standing in snow talking straight to a stranger,

I was sure now I was in great mortal danger,

The man seemed to cough, then I knew t'was a laugh,

He started to chortle, and chortle out gruff,

“Well son, you’ve done very well, don’t you see,

We’re very good mates, old Santa and me.

I’ll take yer to see him, you’ve not got a worryclass=GramE>,

You look cold and tired though, so we’d better hurry.

One thing I must say though, before we begin,

One rule to find he with big hairy chin,

His place is mystical, most it can not see,

So we folk have to make you come and agree,

That you’ll let us take you to the mystical place,

A realm that’s beyond all real time and space.

So what do you say, should we give it a whirl?

Come on now son, don’t be a girl!”

Without thinking more, enticed by adventure,

I gave him consent, with scarcely a mention,

Of where we were going, or what we would do,

The mystery and wonder sounded too good to be true,

My schoolpal must have known some magical dream,

Oh how I wished I’d let him in on my scheme!



TO SANTA’S CAVE

Through snow and sludge, walk far we did not,

‘Til we came to a clearing where wood weren’t a lot,

On creekside there sat a boat on the shore,

Two seated it was, scarce could take any more,

“Hop in” he said, my mysterious guide,

And hop in I did for my wonderful ride,

For having said “Yes” I consented to go,

I felt helpless to join him, why? I scarce know,

In boat we were, crossing the ice,

The oars he pulled strongly and in water did slice,

“Look ahead” said the man, and look did I do,

What my eyes beheld I found hard to be true,

Vanishing away was the forest, the snow,

Ahead could I see the way I was to go,

I could see shadows, twisted and tall,

The place was a mystery, but that was not all,

I could see figures moving about the buildings,

On foot, and in sky, and I had a bad feeling,

The mood it was dark, not childish and fun,

I felt I’d seen somewhere which saw not the sun,

Alighted did we, and there saw a sled,

Drawn by a horse with old lowered head,

I found myself sadly unkeen to resist,

Despite what I’d seen in the lifting of mist,

I’d given permission, and knew I was trapped,

Explain it I can’t, this eerie mishap,

In sled we did hop, and with a crack of the whip,

Off we were onto the rest of the trip,

Past twisted buildings, and shadowy forms,

Structures constructed against ordinary norms,

Some seeming like lumps, others like towers,

Built by mystical and no doubt dark powers,

I dared not to speak, for somehow I knew,

This devil beside me knew it was true,

That under the spell of this horror I was,

I had a terrible feeling I’d be learning who’s boss,

The sled sped along, and on the horizon,

I saw a rock face, looming and rising,

Before it me it seemed like a big peak,

So ominous it was, my spirit felt weak,

Into an opening the sled sped ahead,

Into the darkness and I filled with dread,

No light was required, it seemed he could see,

No luminescence provided for me,

Just the horror of thoughts, and what lay beyond,

I said my prayers, I pleaded God,

“Save me” I asked, and mouthed with a cry,

“I’m only a child, I can’t work out why,

I’ve been taken under this evil spell,

Why am I descending down into hell?”



A STRANGE ENCOUNTER

We came to a stop, and I understood not,

Where we had come to, nor even what,

I was about to experience, what I would see,

Certain I felt it would be the end of me,

The fiend struck a match, and light it did shed,

At first I could not make out this figure of dread,

For before I saw, and it gave me a chill,

A figure in ice, frozen and still,

Curled up it was, and hard to make out,

A huge sort of dragon, yet without a doubt,

A fiend of no equal, a demon for sure,

Of its type I prayed there would be no more,

Then out from behind a figure did pace,

Hideous it was, but I could tell from its face,

The whiskers it bore and the hat it did wear,

No doubt about it, Santa was there,

Pacing about in front of its master,

I felt sure I was seeing a looming disaster,

The creature did not have gifts on its mind,

It seemed more concerned with children to find,

It was talking to the figure inside of the ice,

Or talking to itself, I could not decide,

My captor was gone, and so was the sled,

I thought myself most certainly dead,

The fiend in the hat saw me at last,

His laugh came forth and I was aghast,

It cackled and waddled over to me,

It skipped as it came, and giggled with glee,

“Another child, wonderful, Master, o look,

Another so ignorant, forgetting the Book,

We’ve tricked him, we have, me and the elf,

To thinking this Christmas all ‘bout himself”

As I wondered what Book I’d forgotten to read,

I saw on the ice block a water drop shed,

Then in the firelight I saw many more,

Something strange I hadn’t noticed before,

The block there before me was thawing away,

The beast would be free some terrible day,

So to my shock, to my amazement,

I felt my lips making this sudden statement,

“Who is this devil, encased in the ice,

Who the devil are you, you’re naughty, not nice,

Are you Santa, or are you someone else?

And why have I been taken straight down to hell?”



THE TRUTH REVEALED

Taken aback, the fiend stepped closer in front,

I think he was shocked that I’d been so blunt,

“Well child, okay, lets start from the top,

Let’s answer the questions, this childish sop,

My master in ice is the devil himself,

And me and your captor, both we are elf,

Or so we call ourselves, in these clever days,

For my master, he has many mischievous ways,

Of tricking those people who aint read the Book,

Of fooling those people who don’t take a look,

At my master’s enemy, the one they call Christ,

The one who came and bought at the price,

All you sinful lot, and put my master away,

Until his great and glorious day,

When he’ll come and beat once and for all this Jesus,

Then every boy and girl can do what they pleases,

For that’s what we say Christmas is for,

About getting stuff, getting more more and more,

Life is all about old number one,

Are you getting the message, our little son?

Now the next question, Santa I aint,

We copy the image of one ancient saint,

Santa there aint, and there never has been,

But an old saint once lived, and we’ve seen,

That over the centuries, as our master thaws,

Through boom and bust times, peacetime and wars,

We twist the story a little each year,

We tell people Christmas is all about cheer,

We take out the “Christ”, and give to the “mass”,

Increasing amounts of what should be crass,

Of Santa suits, reindeer, presents and toys,

We’ve had our merry way with the girls and the boys,

We take Christmas, and use it to preach,

The lesson that master wants us to teach,

That life’s about looking out for just you,

So get what you can, and without ado,

Trample all over whoever you can,

Get up on top of your fellow-man,

Finally, boy, there’s another you’ve asked,

I’ve deliberately left the answer to last,

In hell you are not, just a middle place,

A time where you’re still subject to the grace,

Of the God who is in charge of everything here,

Of the King of Heaven, whom all of us fear,

We hide in the dark, where nobody sees,

We move in the darkness and do as we please,

Our evil we spread, and it gives spiritual heat,

To thaw out the master, so he can defeat,

That Christ who put him here many years ago,

Here in this cave, way under the snow.”



A SPECIAL VISITOR

So as I wondered about what the fiend said,

As heard I of Christ, Jesus, away went my dread,

Then just at that time, a light it did shine,

I knew at that time that salvation was mine,

As a child who’d not heard or been given the Book,

A being of light found me in this hideous nook,

Bright and shining, I could not turn my eye,

To the being that appeared, but the fiend made a cry,

It shielded its eyes and threw off its hat,

It staggered backwards, then fell with a splat,

Onto its rear, and lifted its arm,

Crying it wanted no harm,

The being spoke, and though not in my ear,

It said to my heart “my child, have no fear,

Your time has not come, you’ll not be with these fiends,

The time that has come is to repent of your deeds,

Of theft from your father, and dishonesty too,

Of dishonouring your father, these are all true,

For running off thinking only of yourself,

This ultimately led you to this make-believe elf,

Him I will deal with at the time that’s appointed,

When with others we’ll come with the Anointed,

There’ll be no victory by this ice-bound beast,

From ice he will go, and he will be released,

From frozen prison he goes into fire,

In will go devil, minions, and men that desire,

To put themselves first, and not their Lord,

The fate awaits those who do not heed the Word,

And for those to whom the Word did not come to their learning,

Their deeds will decide life eternal or eternal burning,

For they had before them a choice to make,

To live for themselves, or themselves forsake,

So which will it be, my child now choose,

Your choice to follow your captor I can now loose,

To take you away from this in-between zone,

To return you to father, to family, your home,

Where you can take heed of what saw ye today,

And go back home, and live in the way,

That conscience tells you what you should have took,

The way that you’ll find in that beautiful Book”

No sooner the being had finished his say,

Than I’d quickly chosen the Eternal Way,

And gone were the “elf” and the icy cell,

Gone was the master of that frozen hell,

Back in my bedroom I was returned,

No being, just me and my thoughts as they burned,

Clear in my mind what Christmas requires,

Remembering Christ, and hell’s burning fires,

The Lord he has saved us by dying for all,

Selfless, the Man who was God took the fall,

This is the gift that all men have to take,

I can’t understand why they follow that snake,

And his “elves” masquerading as spirits of light,

Serving their master, the prince of the night,

So my dear friend, at my narrow expense,

Try not to be like this child so dense,

Remember your family, your friends and the stranger,

Live your life so you are not in danger,

Put Christ at the centre, then fellow women and men,

At Christmas time remember Jesus again.



Copyright (c) Rikki Lambert 2005. All rights
reserved.

Permission only to browse, to link to this blog with this poem or copy/paste with this acknowledgement.