A Lump of Coal

2006-12-25

Category: poetry

His sister was given her most wished for doll.

His brother received the toy car of his dreams.

But little Joey got nothing at all,

As a result of all his sneaky schemes.

That?s not entirely true, I think I should say,

Because there was one thing left for that soul.

As his parents had warned if he behaved that way,

Joey received that morning some coal.

A big black rock of powdery hardness,

That rolled out of his stocking and into his hand

He would play with this thing, as was his resolved-ness

It rolled ?round in his palm and into his plan.

He politely offered to show it to his sister,

Trying to cover her dress with dirt,

As she recoiled from his toss it missed her

And glanced off of the table skirt

The dirty black line ran down the table,

From there the black mark scrolled ?cross the floor,

Where his brother ran over, as his new car was able,

Now the one streak was joined by four more.

As Joey scrambled to grab his new treasure,

He startled the cat that ran for the tree.

The tree tipped over, lying at its full measure,

Setting its collection of decorations free.

Joey climbed from beneath with coal covered fingers,

Tugging hard on the tablecloth by his side,

Leaving dark prints where each finger lingered.

The food on the table being slowly plied,

To move toward the edge where the cloth went over,

Dishes of sweets for the gathering of kin,

They wiggled and wobbled to the fright of mother,

Who dashed for the table with all the strength within,

Her tired body, to reach the disaster,

Before things got worse than they already were,

But chaos that day was surely the master,

It covered the room with food, pine needles, cat fur.

?I?m sorry, mommy,? Joey with his head low,

Lifting just once to give a sorrowful glance,

She smiled slightly and knelt down and hugged Joe,

And he hugged her back with coal covered hands.

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