Gabrielle Gassin

Tiny black boots affixed to candy cane legs

Rosy cheeks fat with elfin collagen

A Santa hat, incline slightly off centre

A blend of plastic and polyester

Yet

Enkindled by the childlike fervour and dedication

Of the parents

Each Christmas arrives

With the promise of Magic, and

The Elf – subsists on enchantment

The adult is fuelled

By the awe

Of the child

When each morning it becomes clear

That the doll has acted

Impish, mischievous

The children asleep,

The parents enlivened

Play and mirth now part of the evening routine

provoking an alliance

And a note –

A Harbinger

Touting advice, the child listens –

It comes Not from the guardians of the house

But from The Elf

Who is watching

And reporting

And deciding

And One Day, they will realise

That all the lies

Weren’t fraught with fraudulence and malicious deception

But persisted to imbue The Love

That bolsters

The Magic of Christmas