12/25/2025
I have a special treat for you all tonight, this Christmas eve....a new take on a Christmas classic written over 200 years ago.
This is my new, modern city based contemporary version of the classic poem written by Clement Clarke Moore published in 1823. “A Visit from St. Nicholas” gets a modern twist 200 years in the making!
Yo Nicky!!! Sup?
Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the loft
Everything was in place, nothing was lost
The stockings were laid by the TV with love
In the hopes that St. Nicholas would fill them with stuff
Our child could not sleep so nervous with joy
Hoping the living room will flood with toys
And mamma in her non-matching comfy flannels
Had just finished binging her show on her favorite channel
When out in the ally someone was digging in the trash
I sprang from the bed to kindly ask
“Hey down there, do you think you can keep
The noise down outside, we’re trying to sleep!”
The streetlight was shining on his upturned eyes
I could see he was confused and probably high
When what to my wandering eyes did appear
A gaze of raccoons slurping old beer
That dripped from the bottles in the trash he pulled
I knew in an instant this was not going to be cool
Fast as a canon I ran down the stairs
And handed the stranger a twenty with care
Now, raccoons like to party but not with giants
So they split through the fence with a bit of defiance
And I in the ally, staring up at the stars
Marveling keenly at the shapes of the snow-covered cars
Made my way back to the front up the street
And frantically fumbled searching for my keys!
With no phone in hand or keys for the door
The thought of the fire escape came fast but ignored
And then in a twinkling, I heard on the street
The stranger I’d come down to pay to leave
He smiled with a twinkle in his spinning eyes
“Looking for these?” he said, to my surprise
“Why yes I am” I said with glee
As the stranger reached delivering my keys
He was dressed all in fur from his feet to his head
And his clothes were all covered with dirt and stale bread
He was standing tall with a large backpack
He looked like a peddler as he reached behind his back
“Take these up to your child and your wife,
And keep being kind to strangers in the night “
“I was just looking for a gift that I dropped,
While looking for a chimney on your rooftop”
“When in the city the reindeer are too loud,
So I use raccoons for cover, to help me out”
He had a broad face and a gut made of jelly
And due to the trash, he was a bit smelly
This was not what I’d expected, not even a bit
So I took my keys and off he went
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head
The raccoons returned but not with a sled
But a dozen e-scooters and an e-bike for him
And they all rolled down the street quiet with grins
I climbed the stairs and back into bed
After laying the gifts by the tree recalling what he said
“Sometimes people are not what they seem,
And everyone deserves to live a little dream”
“So be kind to strangers, when you can in life,
And merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!”
© Luna’s Moon Publishing LLC / Meikle Gardner 2025
