A Christmas Poem Beneath the shadowed skies of night I slip around the pools of light And stalk my wary prey Quick and cautious steps I make Yet careful not to overtake Or give myself away Red hot blood throbs through my vein Faster than the midnight train And nearly just as loud If only they could see me now My cool reserve, my firm-set brow Oh, they would be so proud Closer still I draw in calm Cold steel pressed against my palm My hand controlling fate Now close enough to hear her breath She does not know her pending death And so I stand and wait At last she stops and turns around And stares at me without a sound For she can flee no more Trapped with nowhere else to run She knows her final days are done For I have killed before

Then suddenly she springs at me In desperate hopes of being free Blood flows forth like wine But I am stronger, I prevail Her head lies severed from her tail And victory is mine David never felt so tall In causing giant men to fall Dawn finds me alone At dinnertime we make a feast Of meat and bones from off the beast Reducing her to bones The season comes but once a year And someone has to kill, it's clear I'll volunteer again For dealing death I feel no shame Yes, next year I will do the same To kill the Christmas hen November 1990 [Back]