Santa Claus

New Zealand Tablet, Volume LII, Issue 51, 23 December 1925, Page 11

Santa Claus

(For the N.Z. Tablet.) TsJle'g had • his bath—his prayers are said, . , And while I tuck him into bed i /it rattles on in rapt delight: t.Jbad, ■ Santa Claus will come to-night, To bring me all the toys I want to buy; IB And Dad! I've been a good —haven't I?" , ;'■■■■■• And then he talks of ships and trains, Guns, motor cars and aeroplanes; And lots of other "bosker" toys That Father Christmas has for boys. He rattles down the list without a pause, And finishes with —"Dad! who's Santa ■• Claus?" I- And there he beats me —so I say: "Oh, Santa Claus lives far away, | And travels round this night each year, j / With sacks of toys (when they're not dear)." ; And then another on to me he pops: {-'■ "Say, Dad! how does he climb our chimney ; tops?" ; Then I invent a scheme or two To show what Santa Claus can do; 'And how the chimneys shift about To let him in and let him out When he has filled the stockings on the f line—- : "Say, Dad! how does he know which stockin's |' v mine?" • Arid so he trips me up again! l£ ■ Of course, it's easy to explain ;I That Santa Claus knows everything: I * o * l boys are good and what to bring; f A&d that he has a prize above the rest For v that good boy who loves his mother -.; best. ■• And triumph gleams in his wide eyes As he says, "Dad! I'll get that prize, For I love Mummy best of all!" . (And that makes Dad feel rather small); Then asks: "What time will Santa Claus be here? And why is Christmas only once a year?" And then, as simple as I can, j\ I tell how Santa Claus began; How long ago, first Christmas morn, In Bethlehem, a King was born Who loved the little children so on earth That Santa Claus comes on His day of i; birth. He listens, quiet and dreamy-eyed, To my poor tale of Christmastide : :\ Of how God sent the brightest Star "To guide the wise men from afar; And he's so silent that I take a peep p And, sure enough, he's fallen fast asleep! He'll dream to-night of Christmas joys Vp in the Fairyland of toys. 11/laybe he'll hear the Angels sing L Their Gloria unto the King; W And when he wakens in the morn he'll find That; Santa-Claus has left a sack behind! —Harold Gallagher. Nelson. > - •■• - -■—~.-- •