Of all my Christmas traditions – and I have a ton of them, ranging from how we decorate the tree to what goes on the table Christmas Day – this is perhaps my favorite: It is time for the recitation of the Christmas poems.
Well, you’ll have to do the reciting. All I can do is type them for you. It’s not like I can go house to house reading them, although now that I think if it, that’s not a bad idea. Just a little time-consuming.
Anyway, the poems.
The first comes to us from the fondly-remembered comic strip “Pogo” by the late Walt Kelly. It was traditional in our house for my brother and me to sing this several times every December, usually after we had finished a rousing chorus of Yogi Yorgesson’s “I Yust Go Nuts At Christmas.” Not that anyone ever asked us to sing. We considered it our gift to the family. And here it is for yours:
Deck us all with Boston Charlie,
Walla Walla, Wash., an’ Kalamazoo!
Nora’s freezin’ on the trolley,
Swaller dollar cauliflower alley-garoo!
Don’t we know archaic barrel
Lullaby Lilla Boy, Louisville Lou?
Trolley Molly don’t love Harold,
Boola boola Pensacoola hullabaloo!
Bark us all bow-wows of folly,
Polly wolly cracker ‘n’ too-da-loo!
Donkey Bonny brays a carol,
Antelope Cantaloupe, ‘lope with you!
Hunky Dory’s pop is lolly gaggin’ on the wagon,
Willy, folly go through!
Chollie’s collie barks at Barrow,
Harum scarum five alarum bung-a-loo!
Dunk us all in bowls of barley,
Hinky dinky dink an’ polly voo!
Chilly Filly’s name is Chollie,
Chollie Filly’s jolly chilly view halloo!
Bark us all bow-wows of folly,
Double-bubble, toyland trouble! Woof, woof, woof!
Tizzy seas on melon collie!
Dibble-dabble, scribble-scrabble! Goof, goof, goof!
Kinda gets you right here, doesn’t it?
OK, maybe not. Here is something a little more gracious, gleaned from a coffee-table book I picked up a few years ago and written by an author using the pen name Welleran Poltarnees. It captures what I wish for everyone, every holiday season:
“May this blessing fall on you like a gentle snow.
“Let your Christmas be savored far in advance of its arrival.
“May the spirit of the season make your quest for gifts selfless and filled with joy.”
“Adornment, reflecting old traditions, shall make your home bright with the loveliness of Christmastide.
“May winter, in some way, grace your holidays.
“Let there be a tree, bringing into your home the fragrance and power of the earth.
“May song bless your Christmas, and remind us all of the universal harmony which is at the center of creation.
“In the wrapping and adorning of your gifts, let there be the satisfaction that all creative acts offer.
“On the night before Christmas may you be visited by peace and beneficence, and visible presences who enrich you and yours.
“Let the children teach you, and all of us, through their freshness and focus, the precious joy to be discovered in this celebration.
“May you feast in good health & comradeship.
“Let us remember the foundation of this joy – the fear, the journey, the refuge, the birth, the revelation.
“When your celebration is over, may you turn in your memory the love, the giving and the receiving.”
I hope such a blessing reaches you this season. And I wish you all a Dibble-dabble, scribble-scrabble! Goof, goof, goof!