Christmas Poem 2022

A Visit from Saint Nicholas

by Jonathan Potter – Christmas Poem 2022

‘Twas the first mask-free Christmas, when all through the stores 

The vaccinated children were spewing their spores;
The shoppers were eagerly starting to riot
As the introverts longed for some quarantine quiet.

The public healthcare workers were tracing the path
Of the flu and RSV, and doing their math;
And mamma with her slight cough and I with anxiety
Were praying to be spared Christmas cards full of piety.

When on the TV, an ex-President appeared
Who seemed both too familiar and utterly weird.
Away to the kitchen I fled for to grab
Some fortified eggnog for my pandemic flab.

I looked out the window at the new-fallen snow
And wondered why mamma and I shouldn’t go
To some tropical island with palm trees and drinks
And nary a mention of ice-skating rinks.

So off to the airport, so lively and quick,
No lockdowns to keep us from this handy trick.
More rapid than llamas, still wearing pyjamas,
We boarded a plane destined for The Bahamas.

“Now, Covid! No, Lockdowns! Now, Quarantine Masking!
On, Pfizer! Moderna! Vaccines for the asking!
Take a shot in the arm, let the virus begone!
Now dash away! dash away! Like a bat from Wuhan!”

As snowflakes that in the windchill gently fly,
And blind you by flying right into your eye,
So out of this snowscape mamma and I flew
(After waiting a while for the de-icing crew).

So then, in a twinkling, I was drinking some rum
On a beach that made me forget where I’m from.
Then suddenly Saint Nicholas appeared with no sleigh
And said, “I’m retired, now what do you say?”

And then, in a twinkling, I was drinking some rum
On a beach that made me forget where I’m from.
And suddenly Saint Nicholas appeared with no sleigh
And said, “I’m retired, now what do you say?”

Jonathan Potter is my son-in-law. He is a managing librarian at Washington State University, Spokane, Washington and a published poet. He is often featured on Garrison Keillor’s “Writer’s Almanac.” Look for:

• Tulips for Elsie published by Wishing Tree Books
• House of Words published by Korrektiv Press
• Sunrise Yin published by Korrektiv Press
• Sunrise Yang published by Korrektiv Press

Sunrise Yin and Sunrise Yang include daily photographs of the sunrise and are accompanied by six-line poems. Jonathan took all the photos and wrote all the poems. I can attest to his All publications are available on Amazon. He also wrote last year’s Christmas poem.