broken Runner

A Poem by john l smith

The broken Runner

By the side of the road, Santa came to a halt

His gift laden sleigh, had developed a fault

A loose runner, on the right side

Caused Santa to put, a stop to their ride

Santa yelled out, to his reindeer

“We’re going to have to, pull over here”

They had skimmed through, clouds on their way

Now they would have to, sideline the sleigh

Out with his Smartphone, to made a quick call

To a tow truck, cause he needed a haul

All the reindeers were, now in a panic

Because Old Santa, required a mechanic

Concerned about toys, the dwarfs had just made

Rudolph’s nose suffered an uncharacteristic fade

If they were stuck, by the road indefinitely

There would be nothing to leave under the tree

Santa’s Smartphone rang to message machines

All the mechanics were, deep in their dreams

No one out there awake to help out

A frustrated Prancer began prancing about

Dancer started dancing. as only he could

Prancer also pranced as only he would

Dasher started dashing, as only he should

But all of this did, simply no good

The Man in the Moon, just shook his head

This was very thing he did certainly dread

But the only thing he was able to do

Was to pray for some kind of breakthrough

Dancer danced round to the back of the sleigh

He’d been a mechanic back in the day

With Dasher they searched through toys

Looking for a tool kit, made for one of the boys

They dug through, new skis and ski boots

Past toy tugboats, that responded with toots

Past party dresses, with ribbons of blue

But found no tools, till they were near through

Then joyfully, they found a big wrench

And right beside it, a sturdy workbench

The bench had a big vise, bolted on tight

Now the Reindeers could fix the sleigh right

The morning sunlight was trying to hold back

He was trying to keep his bright rays intact

He yelled down about his coming daybreak worry

If only Santa’s Reindeers would hustle and hurry

With the sled runner again fastened to stay

Santa told Mr. Sunlight they could now dash away

Now no children would be left without toys

With each reindeer galloping like wildest cowboys

The deep frown disappeared from Mr. Moons face

So happy he was to have it erase

Santa was now heading straight for the town

Neath starlight from stars bright, twinkling down

With bright sunrays, starting to show

Santa and reindeers dashed through the snow

Down chimneys and then crawling on knees

They all spread toys beneath Christmas trees

Then with mere moments to spare

The sleigh went on a North Pole tear

Back to their places round the warm fire

Where for another year, they all could retire

© 2018 john l smith

My Review

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Reviews

Samuel Dickens

Thank God a few boys still want tools instead of electronic gadgets! Sigh... what a relief!

Posted 5 Years Ago

5 Years Ago

he works in mysterious ways but refreshing to know he still pulls a few strings

Chris Shaw

What an epic Christmas narrative Dave. Loved this, and it would make a great children's book. Nothing phases Santa does it.? He's a man that can deliver on what was promised. Politicians need to take a leaf out of his book. Great job.

Chris

Posted 5 Years Ago

5 Years Ago

Yes, these are quite youngish in nature, a reflection
of my never having come close to matu.. read more

5 Years Ago

Well I hope she delivers Brexit in accordance with the referendum results. Anything else would not b.. read more

barleygirl

BRAVO! Brilliant use of snappy rhyme & rhythm, with storytelling brilliance & great fun, as you take us on a very long ride with nary a repeated idea. That's what makes overly-long poems dreary -- often saying the same thing in different ways. That's why I love that your very long poem just keeps on dealing us a new delight with every line. Your mind is so prolific as to be intimidating. How can I fire up my now-limited neurons & join in with such fun? Definitely inspires the rest of us to try! (((HUGS))) Fondly, Margie