Santy Claus Truly is Real
One Christmas Eve, Uncle Joe stopped in,
when the snow was about hip deep.
I was ready fer bed, when he volunteered
a story to put me t’sleep.
M’Maw said, “Well, if it ain’t too long
an’ ya don’t git Bud too excited.”
So Uncle Joe come in an’ set down by my bed
an’ I was plumb delighted.
He smiled and said, "I remember a time
when I thought ol’ Santy’s a joke.
That no old saint’s gonna care what happens
to a scruffy ol’ stinky cowpoke.
"Then, one Christmas Eve, a whole lot like this,
I was out on the trail alone.
It was snowin’ steady, an’ a cold north wind
had started t’howl an’ t’moan.
"That’s when a tree fell across the trail,
an’ m’horse decided she’d go.
Which is what she did, an’ pitched me off
in a pile of drifted snow.
"I was still a good couple of miles from home,
an’ I tell ya, I’m gittin’ worried.
I couldn’t walk that far before I froze,
no matter how much I hurried.
"I was gittin’ tired, an’ sleepy, too
an’ my feet had started tinglin’.
An’ I swear t’goodness, it was right about then
that I heard some sleighbells jinglin’.
"I hollered, Hey, Santy Claus, are you real?
An’ if you are, kin you hear?
I need some help if I’m gonna git home
t’see my Mother, dear.
“Then, whatta ya know, from across the snow
you’ll never guess who I saw.
Yep, Santy Claus ridin’ right up in ‘is sleigh,
an’ he brung me home to my Maw.”
As Uncle Joe told of that ride in the sky
it seemed I was there that night.
We flew in and out, all around the stars,
an’ I laughed an’ hung on tight.
I couldn’t tell ya how long we flew,
as we circled the Milky Way.
But next thing I knew, when I opened my eyes
it was early on Christmas Day.
M’head still held them jinglebells’ sound,
as I yawned an’ climbed outta bed.
An’ I knew that Santy Claus truly is real,
jist like Uncle Joe had said.
© 2002, Hal Swift