
Christmas Cat
……………….
The Christmas cat sits still and sleek;
The Christmas cat is wary.
She’s been in trouble twice this week;
She’s finding Christmas scary.
……………………………..
The Christmas cat tried to join in;
She played with Christmas lights.
She pulled the tree right off the stool
And gave them all a fright.
………………………..
The Christmas cat likes Christmas food;
She likes the Christmas meat.
She likes to lick the turkey fat
And get between our feet.
……………………
The Christmas cat is shut outside:
She’d grabbed the Christmas fairy.
She’s been in trouble twice this week;
She’s finding Christmas SCARY!
…………………………….
Trevor Millum
……………………….
The Star’s Story
………………………………………………..
I am a wandering star,
An astronomical event,
Surely not a portent
Of some heavenly god’s descent.
………………………………..
I may travel where e’er I wish
Across the reach of space:
It is my whim to stop and rest
Above this silent place.
……………………………
And what of these three learned men
Who trail me through the skies?
It’s whispered that they’re noble
But should I think them wise?
………………………………..
Yet, somehow, I feel it’s right
To light this stable lowly
And watch as shepherds pay respect
To a child they say is holy.
………………………………………………………….
John H. Rice

Three Slow Visitors
………………
When Christmas is over
And New Year is past
We three slow visitors arrive at last.
……………….
Too late for the angels
We wonder and long
For the piercing white beauty of feathery songs.
……………….
We wandered the wastes
Where the wind and the sand
Whispered and shifted and re-made the land.
………………..
And now by the Maker
Of all things we stand
Mysterious gifts in our trembling hands.
…………………..
The gold and the incense
Are all fine and good
And the myrrh has its meaning too – all understood.
……………………..
But here – at our mercy
Lies God – and we shiver
Just what is the gift here? And who is the giver?
…………………….
Jan Dean
Roasting the Phoenix
………………………
This year we’re having Phoenix
for our Christmas dinner,
and if Mum doesn’t burn it,
it’s sure to be a winner.
……………
Oh no! The oven’s smoking,
our dinner is on fire.
it’s a raging furnace,
a Phoenix funeral pyre.
………………..
Mum puts on the oven gloves,
and she lets out a roar
“that Phoenix has grown feathers,
it’s fluttering at the door.”
…………………..
Help! Somebody let it out!
This is a job for Dad.
Mum’s sorry that she stuffed it.
It’s looking really mad.
………………..
So Dad opens the oven
and the bird soars off in flight.
Mum has to have a sherry,
she’s had such a fright.
………………
It rose up from the ashes,
so dinners off, I fear.
I wish we’d had a turkey
like every other year.
………………..
Jane Clarke
…………………….
*Just a Few Sleeps to Go*
………………….
How’s it going, Father Christmas?
“I’m snowed under,” he says,
“still busy sorting toys
to pile upon my sledge.”
…………………..
“The stars are all lined up,” he adds,
“in time for Christmas Day.
So be good girls and boys and
I’ll soon be on my way.”
………………
The little elves are helping
and Rudolph’s at the ready.
Just a few sleeps left to go,
so snuggle down with Teddy!
…………………
Celia Warren