Legend–1995

In a quiet town one winter’s eve

As the snow swirled gently ‘round,

A woodsman spied a smallish form

Lying still upon the ground.

 

‘Twas a maid so fair of face

Fading in the night.

The woodsman’s heart began to melt

As he brought her near the light.

 

Why was this child without shelter

On a night so cold and cruel,

When she should be near her family

With tonight so close to Yule.

 

But there was no one searching

On the dark and empty road,

So he hurried toward his own small home

With his frail and fragile load.

 

The wind blew fiercely against the man

Who carried the weakened waif,

But he only thought of his dear wife

Who would see them warm and safe.

 

A candle in the window

Said he’d soon be there.

The fading life he carried

Was more than he could bear.

 

“I know we haven’t much, my love,

But for her we must share.

In the homes of plenty,

They were too warm to care.”

 

They set the poor child by the hearth

As the fire began to glow.

Warm broth would soon bring color

To a face as white as snow.

 

The children dressed in rags came ‘round

To gaze upon their guest.

So young and frail she looked to them;

Their eyes began to mist.

 

“Tis Christmas Eve,” the woodsman said,

“Come gather ‘round our tree

And light the candles and say a prayer,

For how blessed we all must be.”

 

The young stranger smiled and stood

And joined the woodsman’s clan,

And stood by father and mother

And joined them hand in hand.

 

“You are kind and gentle folk

Who have but love to spare.

And yet you brought a stranger here

When others would not dare.

 

I was sent to find such men

Before this Christmas day.

‘Ere you came, I had feared

My hope would fade away.

 

Every family saw my dress

And turned be to the street.

There was no kind compassion

In town for me to meet.

 

Yet here, you are a poor man

Whose labors break your back,

Whose family huddles together

In an old but sturdy shack.

 

You found room to house me

And feed and keep me warm,

And you shared your meager feast with me

That I would come to no harm.

 

You show a gentle soul, good sir,

That will lead you through this life.

That goodness shall repay you,

Your family and your wife.”

 

A golden glow surrounded her;

The Yule tree glowed with love.

The woodsman’s cabin filled with song

From angels up above.

 

“The kindness that you’ve given me

Was kingly through and through,

And I shall repay the kindness

By watching over you.”

 

The stranger was an angel

Sent to search for love,

And she rose ‘atop their Yule tree

To guard them from above.

 

As they protected her, she guarded them–

And she watches over thee.

And  that’s why there’s an angel

‘A top your Christmas tree.

 

–1995

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s