when your breath floats before you, a puff in the dark
and the herald angels gather in chorus to sing, "Hark!"
after the lights on the tree have been turned off, grown cold
and the stories of Christmas have been remembered and retold

when Christmas hymns and carols still resound in your mind
and you want so to run down stairs to see what you will find
you look across the room, in moonlight your brother you espy
he's not sleeping either and you notice the gleam in his eye

his lips silently say, "Lets go!" He gives a quick nod toward the door
with a wink you agree, then sit up and yawn as your feet touch the floor
when a pinpoint of silvered light stretches into a grand column bright
there, in your room, is an angel--his nimbus wings, aglow in the night

"Stay!" he softly speaks. "Don't hastily spoil your parents' surprise
this is their joy, done for you, before darkness awakens to rise
their heart is in the wonders that they spin in shadows candlelit
a'hurry with childlike glee, they've only this eve to make the magic fit

"Did you never wonder from whence came the morning's joy
the glitter in the tinsel, scent of pine, the sparkle on a toy
it is more than just the shiny lights, or a jolly Santa Claus
a day Love was given us, Love so great it made angels pause

You hear your brother whisper, "Thank you, sir, we did not know."
The angel smiles, "You are welcome. I had expected it was so.
"You knew there was magic in the night, but you never knew why."
Looking up he unfurls gossamer wings, speaks, then does away fly

you stand with your brother and there, beyond the hush of your room
your mom's laughing, your dad's saying, "Hurry! Morning comes soon."
you both kneel down and whisper a prayer, then quickly climb into bed
as hazy, warm sleep beckons, it's then you recall what the angel last said...

"Happy Birthday, Merry Christmas, my Lord."
were just part of the words they had heard
the rest forgotten, off to dreamland they'd fled
... "May all parents find their children abed."

Copyright ?© 2004 by Kathy Anne Harris