............when all through the shop,
the bowyer worked with a skip and a hop.
Unaware of the time, he tillered with care,
not knowing St. Nicholas soon would be there.
As yellow shavings fell to the floor,
there came a soft knock on the bowyers shop door.
He wondered who on earth could be standing outside,
so he went to the door and opened it wide.
There standing before him back-lit by the moon,
St. Nick himself stepped into the room.
The bowyer was stunned that to his humble shop,
old Father Christmas decided to stop.
"I heard a scraper on osage!"he said with a smile,
"so I thought I'd come down and take a break for a while.
Delivering gifts all night long tree to tree,
really puts quite a bit of stress upon me.
Sometimes in my ride I need to unwind,
and here is a perfect place to spend time.
You see my friend, I build bows myself,
taught how to do it by a woodworking elf.
There aren't many bowyers I know up my way,
though sometimes Marc St. Louis comes over to play."
Santa took off his coat and opened his bag,
and took out a U.S. made Nicholson rasp.
He gave it to the bowyer who's face filled with glee,
then Santa stepped over to the tillering tree.
"There's a hinge starting to form on the limb on the top,
but if you scrape here, here and here, you can get it to stop."
Long into the night the bowyer and St. Nick,
gave the greatest attention to a thin yellow stick.
They talked about wood species and the merits of steam,
how to sinew a bow and work wood while green.
Till at last Santa looked at his watch with a gasp,
"How the heck did five hours go by so fast?"
He grabbed his bag and bolted out of the shop,
yelling back that next year he would again try to stop.
He woke up his reindeer and jumped in to his sleigh,
hollering out,"up up and away!"
The bowyer stepped back into his shop with a smile,
walked to his bench and just stood there a while.
For there sat a bow so perfectly made,
for his son to receive that Christmas day.
And as the bowyer went out and turned off the light.
he heard, "Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!"
Merry Christmas fellers! Cody
