by AFR Pearson (after Clement Clarke Moore)
‘Twas the night before Christmas,
And all through the flat,
Not a creature was stirring,
Not even Old Cat.
The children were sleeping
And dreaming of toys,
When from downstairs’ garden
There came a loud noise!
They ran to the window
To gawp and to stare.
You never could guess
What the children saw there.
The kids’ mouths dropped open
Like a pair of such fools.
The first thing they noticed
Was a pile of tools.
There were hammers and set squares,
Shaped like a “T”,
But what were they building?
Oh, what could it be?
At the base were some wheels,
Getting ready to run.
At the top was a star,
Shining bright like the sun,
And there in the corner,
As plain as could be,
The neighbours had built
A great big Christmas tree.
The children breathed deeply
And tried not to panic.
A Christmas tree robot!
This fir was mechanic!
The children put coats on,
Waved ‘bye to Old Cat,
Crept past their mum’s bedroom
And snuck out the flat.
As they stepped out the door,
Their teeth started to chatter,
But they braved the cold night
To see what was the matter.
As the lift travelled down
The kids heard a loud whirring.
They shouted together,
“The tree must be stirring!”
By the time the lift stopped
And they’d reached the ground floor,
The Christmas tree stood
In the garden no more.
The Christmas tree robot
Rolled off down the street,
With the kids in pursuit
On their small, slippered feet.
Through that Christmas Eve night
The tree rolled and it whirred.
The kids were surprised
That nobody else stirred.
As the robot moved on,
The night soon became foggy.
Then the children heard clearly
The miaow of a moggy.
Then more cats miaowing,
Each a poor little stray.
Just what was occurring?
The kids just couldn’t say.
They followed the tree
And it soon became clear.
That the robot tree paused
When each cat did appear.
It would bend down it’s branches
And then, just like that,
Before you could blink
It would pick up the cat.
The kids were dismayed.
Oh, such dark thoughts were brewing!
Just what could the Christmas Tree
Robot be doing?
An answer appeared,
With the force of a punch.
Was the tree finding felines
To eat for it’s lunch?
But so many cats
Were now sat in the tree,
The kids knew it hadn’t
Had many for tea.
And then with a “sproing!”
The tree’s actions changed.
It lifted it’s branches
And it looked quite deranged.
And into each house,
Be it mansion or flat,
If a cat would find love there,
They were given a cat.
The kids followed behind
Till they knew without doubt,
That each stray had a home,
Not one cat was left out.
They went back to their block,
And up to their floor,
And home to the sound
Of their mum’s noisy snore.
They went to their room
In their warm homely flat,
And looked out the window
While cuddling Old Cat.
And there stood the robot,
A branch up and stretching,
With a small kitten on it,
So cute and so fetching.
The kids opened the window
And shouted with joy
“We’ve got a new kitten!
That beats any toy!”
Old Cat was delighted
And as for their mum,
As soon as she saw it,
She tickled its tum.
Although it had started
With a bit of a fright,
Everybody found joy
On that Christmas Eve night.
So do not be scared
If this Christmas you see
A gigantic robot
That’s shaped like a tree.
It won’t try to eat you.
It won’t go berserk.
It’s happy to roll around
Doing good work.
And the kids heard their neighbours,
Who had caused the delight
Say “Merry Christmas to all,
And to all a good night!”
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