A Visit From Santa Claus

It was Christmas Eve, not a soul made a sound, And not so much as a mouse could be found, The children had hung their stockings on the hearth, As a quiet, peacefulness gently fell upon the Earth, My family were all asleep, their heads full of dream, Of Santa's arrival with his eight reindeer team, Father in his nightcap, slept soundly in bed, And Mother in her nightgown of green and red, When all of a sudden I heard a commotion, And jumped out of bed with a curious notion, I ran to the window and pulled open the curtain, I thought it must be Santa Claus for certain, New fallen snow shone bright below the moon, Giving the illusion of daylight in mid afternoon, I looked out my open window despite the cold, When a sight met my eyes, wondrous to behold, A lively, old gentleman aboard a great sleigh, With eight flying reindeer leading the way, As quick as a bolt of lightning out of the sky, He called to each one as they rocketed by, "Now, Donner! Now, Vixen! Now, Dasher and Dancer, On, Cupid! On, Blitzen! On, Comet and Prancer, Leap up to the wall and onto the rooftop, Dash away all and let us make our first stop!" They flew through the air with much ease, Like dry autumn leaves on a sudden breeze, The reindeer landed so smooth and swift, Along with Santa and a sleigh full of gifts, I heard their hoofs pawing upon the shingle, And joyful laughter from that old Kris Kringle, I ran downstairs to catch a glimpse of his face, Just as he came down, out of the fireplace, He was cloaked in red with a fur trimmed suit, And covered in soot from his hat to his boot, A large sack full of presents he carried along, He opened it up as he hummed a Christmas song, With much merriment his blue eyes twinkled, His face was joyful, and yet somewhat wrinkled, His cheeks were blushed like the berries in holly, His snow white beard was long and quite jolly, From his pipe came out a great puff of smoke, He began his work and not a word he spoke, Santa Claus was tall, with a belly quite round, And his laughter was a most glorious sound, I looked on with glee as a smile crossed my face, When he approached and gave me a warm embrace, Then, Santa placed several gifts beneath our tree, Something for the children, and Father, and me, He filled the stockings with sugarplums and a toy, Which I know will delight my little girl and boy, The midnight hour on the mantel clock chimed, He turned, then back up the chimney he climbed, With a whistle he signaled for his reindeer to go, And away they flew with a hearty, "Ho, ho, ho!," Before disappearing Santa exclaimed from his sleigh, "To all a good night and a Happy Christmas Day!" (repost)