‘Twas the Week Before Christmas
By Karen Docter
‘Twas the week before Christmas, when all through the land
My dust bunnies had grown bold, joined the Editorial Band;
Revisions were hung by the critique rank and file,
In hopes that my manuscript would soon top the pile;
Characters were canoodling in their own special way,
While villains of danger snuck into the fray;
And my hero in his splendor, and heroine bathed in moon’s light,
Had just dissed their love for the fourth time this night;
When out of my brain there arose what I’d been missing,
Had to rush to the office to tweak a bout of kissing;
Away to my chair, I stumbled and swore,
Ripped open a Window and widened my eyes more;
The cursor, blinking cheerily on the computer screen, teased,
Tormenting my poor muse, more than it appeased;
When, what to my beleaguered senses should un-wend,
But my muse on a lotus blossom, and a close writer friend;
With a great mighty shove, so swift the prevention,
I knew in a thrice, this was editorial intervention;
So swift the editor kicked off her perch, ideas they came,
And my muse danced and sang, I knew this was the game.
“Now, Narrative! Now, Point of View! Now, Adjective and Verb!
On, Sentence! On Paragraph! On, Synopsis and Blurb!”
“To the top of the list! To the top of the pile!
Now print away! Print away! Print away, smile!”
As manuscript pages that before crazed muse envision,
When they hide behind walls, come out with permission;
So rise to the occasion the plot points they grow,
With a screen full of characterization, my muse did yet glow;
And then, in that moment, I heard my hero speak,
Those sensuous words and statement of love’s peak;
As I reached for the words, and was putting them down,
My heroine laughed and tried on her wedding gown;
From her fingers danced stars, my muse had donned glitters,
Her crown was tipped over from too many gin-and-bitters;
But she sat on my poor editor, not allowing her vent,
My muse looked like an angel, or maybe an agent;
Her face – how it glowed! Her dimples how naughty!
Her eyes full of mischief, her nose not one bit haughty!
Her gleeful expression was fixed on the page,
And the stubborn tilt of her chin was as firm as a sage;
An eraser-less pencil she clenched tight in her hand,
And an aura of contentment encircled the land;
She had purpose to her step, was lithe enough to bend,
To the winds of creativity, she was surely there to wend;
She was the vision of my heroine, an odd little perk,
And I laughed when I saw her, my psyche at work;
With a gracious smile and a nod in my direction,
She gave me the notion I could bow to her perfection;
She spoke not at all, but took over my work,
And filled all the holes; then turned with a smirk.
And saving her words, I would tomorrow sigh,
And giving me a look, out of the office she did fly.
She freed my sorry editor, dusted her off with a smile,
And away she tottered without the least bit of guile.
But I heard her exclaim, as she packed up her bikini,
“Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good ‘Finis’!”
[‘Twas the Week Before Christmas, Karen Docter © 2007]
[[Inspired by ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas, attributed to Clement Clarke Moore.]]
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
Amazing that you wrote a poem on writing! Hard enough to get prose when I’m suffering from a writer’s block.
Morning, Rasana! I’m glad you enjoyed it. I was truly inspired that day…to write this poem, NOT my novel. At the time, I was struggling with my writing and decided to work on something silly and fun. It was a cathargic way to deal with my writer frustration about being a writer. 🙂 I was amazed when that side trip pulled me out of my doldrums and kick-started my novel again. I think, sometimes, we take ourselves too seriously and our spirit gets bogged down.
I wish you the best with your writing, Rasana!
Like Rasana, the words are coming slow right now. Loved the poem, Karen!
Merry Christmas!
I think we all tend to slow down over the holidays, D’Ann. There are simply too many distractions! 🙂 I know new writing has slowed to a crawl on my suspense since I decided (heavens, was it just last week?!) to publish one of my contemporaries. I’m up to my eyebrows in getting it ready for publication and with everything else I’m doing to prepare for my army son’s return for Christmas there isn’t any time left. I’ven give myself permission to slow down for the season. Sometimes we just have to give ourselves breaks.
I’m glad you enjoyed the poem!
I loved it. Sometimes, during the holdidays, we all feel rushed. In July, I decided to clean out my closet and found a gift that I’d forgotten about last December. This year I’m more organized. Hoping Santa will recognize my effort !
Thanks, Ruby. It was a lot of fun to write. It was one of those labors of love that kind of dripped off my fingertips. Wish my persnickety muse had more inspiring moments like this one. I’d be writing a whole lot faster. LOL
Funny about the Christmas present! I did that one year. Told my family it was because I was going insane. My mom told me she took that as a sign of a cluttered mind. I prefer her version. 🙂 I’m sure Santa will recognize your effort! Hope your Christmas is wonderful!
Love it, Karen. Hope you have a great Christmas. I’ll be missing most of the festivities, since I have a broken neck and can’t get out much. Hugs.
Oh, my goodness! How did you do that?! You’ll have to email me if you’re up to it later. We clearly need to catch up. Gentle cyber hugs for your neck. Hope Santa tucks quick healing vibes in your stocking. Sending some of my own.
I’m glad you enjoyed my poem. Take care of you!
Ha! Love it!
Glad you liked it, Meredith! I certainly had fun writing it. Happy Holidays!
I know how hard it is to rhyme and actually make sense. You did an amazing job.
Hi, Morgan. Thanks! I was having difficulties writing on my novel at the time so I was surprised when this poem actually dripping off my fingertips like melted butter. 🙂 Oh, I had to work on it a bit, but my muse was definitely at work when I wrote it. It was fun and actually broke me out of my novel writing ennui.
I hope you and yours have a great Christmas! Please come back to see me sometime soon.
Karen