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--></style></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink="#954F72" style='word-wrap:break-word'><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal>“<span style='color:#1F497D'>This is so good, I just had to share it”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>Yes it is! Thanks Steve.</span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Sent from <a href="https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=550986">Mail</a> for Windows</p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><div style='mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-top:solid #E1E1E1 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal style='border:none;padding:0in'><b>From: </b><a href="mailto:sbyers@ec.rr.com">BJ8Healeys</a><br><b>Sent: </b>Wednesday, December 15, 2021 8:41 PM<br><b>To: </b><a href="mailto:healeys@autox.team.net">healeys@autox.team.net</a><br><b>Subject: </b>[Healeys] FW: A COVID Christmas Poem</p></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><div><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #B5C4DF 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>From a friend in Canada. This is so good, I just had to share it.</span><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> <o:p></o:p></span></p><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:black'> </span><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:black'> </span><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><div><div><div><blockquote style='margin-top:5.0pt;margin-bottom:5.0pt'><div><blockquote style='margin-top:5.0pt;margin-bottom:5.0pt'><div><div><div><p class=xmsonormal><span lang=EN-CA style='font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black'> </span><span lang=EN-CA style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>A Covid Christmas Poem</span></p><p class=xmsonormal><span lang=EN-CA style='font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black'> </span></p><p class=xmsonormal><span lang=EN-CA style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>Twas the night before Christmas, but Covid was here,</span></p><p class=xmsonormal><span lang=EN-CA style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>So we all had to stay extra cautious this year.</span></p><p class=xmsonormal><span lang=EN-CA style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>Our masks were all hung by the chimney with care</span></p><p class=xmsonormal><span lang=EN-CA style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>In case Santa forgot his and needed a spare.</span></p><p class=xmsonormal><span lang=EN-CA style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>With Covid, we couldn't leave cookies or cake</span></p><p class=xmsonormal><span lang=EN-CA style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>So we left Santa hand sanitizer to take.</span></p><p class=xmsonormal><span lang=EN-CA style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>The children were sleeping, the brave little tots</span></p><p class=xmsonormal><span lang=EN-CA style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>The ones over 5 had just had their first shots,</span></p><p class=xmsonormal><span lang=EN-CA style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>And mom in her kerchief and me in my cap</span></p><p class=xmsonormal><span lang=EN-CA style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>Had just settled in for a long winter's nap.</span></p><p class=xmsonormal><span lang=EN-CA style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>But we tossed and we turned all night in our beds</span></p><p class=xmsonormal><span lang=EN-CA style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>As visions of variants danced in our heads.</span></p><p class=xmsonormal><span lang=EN-CA style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>Gamma and Delta and now Omicron</span></p><p class=xmsonormal><span lang=EN-CA style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>These Covid mutations that go on and on</span></p><p class=xmsonormal><span lang=EN-CA style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>I thought to myself, "If this doesn't get better,</span></p><p class=xmsonormal><span lang=EN-CA style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>I'll soon be familiar with every Greek letter".</span></p><p class=xmsonormal><span lang=EN-CA style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>Then just as I started to drift off and doze</span></p><p class=xmsonormal><span lang=EN-CA style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>A clatter of noise from the front lawn arose.</span></p><p class=xmsonormal><span lang=EN-CA style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>I leapt from my bed and ran straight down the stair</span></p><p class=xmsonormal><span lang=EN-CA style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>I opened the door, and an old gent stood there.</span></p><p class=xmsonormal><span lang=EN-CA style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>His N 95 made him look pretty weird</span></p><p class=xmsonormal><span lang=EN-CA style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>But I knew who he was by his red suit and beard.</span></p><p class=xmsonormal><span lang=EN-CA style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>I kept six feet away but blurted out quick</span></p><p class=xmsonormal><span lang=EN-CA style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>" What are you doing here, jolly Saint Nick?"</span></p><p class=xmsonormal><span lang=EN-CA style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>Then I said, "Where's your presents, your reindeer and sleigh ?</span></p><p class=xmsonormal><span lang=EN-CA style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>Don't you know that tomorrow will be Christmas Day? ".</span></p><p class=xmsonormal><span lang=EN-CA style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>And Santa stood there looking sad in the snow</span></p><p class=xmsonormal><span lang=EN-CA style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>As he started to tell me a long tale of woe.</span></p><p class=xmsonormal><span lang=EN-CA style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>He said he'd been stuck at the North Pole alone</span></p><p class=xmsonormal><span lang=EN-CA style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>All his white collar elves had been working from home,</span></p><p class=xmsonormal><span lang=EN-CA style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>And most of the others said "Santa, don't hire us!</span></p><p class=xmsonormal><span lang=EN-CA style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>We can live off the CERB now, thanks to the virus".</span></p><p class=xmsonormal><span lang=EN-CA style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>Those left in the toyshop had little to do.</span></p><p class=xmsonormal><span lang=EN-CA style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>With supply chain disruptions, they could make nothing new.</span></p><p class=xmsonormal><span lang=EN-CA style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>And as for the reindeer, they'd all gone away.</span></p><p class=xmsonormal><span lang=EN-CA style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>None of them left to pull on his sleigh.</span></p><p class=xmsonormal><span lang=EN-CA style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>He said Dasher and Dancer were in quarantine,</span></p><p class=xmsonormal><span lang=EN-CA style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>Prancer and Vixen refused the vaccine,</span></p><p class=xmsonormal><span lang=EN-CA style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>Comet and Cupid were in ICU,</span></p><p class=xmsonormal><span lang=EN-CA style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>So were Donner and Blitzen, they may not pull through.</span></p><p class=xmsonormal><span lang=EN-CA style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>And Rudolph's career can't be resurrected.</span></p><p class=xmsonormal><span lang=EN-CA style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>With his shiny red nose, they all think he's infected.</span></p><p class=xmsonormal><span lang=EN-CA style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>Even with his old sleigh, Santa couldn't go far.</span></p><p class=xmsonormal><span lang=EN-CA style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>Every border to cross needs a new PCR.</span></p><p class=xmsonormal><span lang=EN-CA style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>Santa sighed as he told me how nice it would be</span></p><p class=xmsonormal><span lang=EN-CA style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>If children could once again sit on his knee.</span></p><p class=xmsonormal><span lang=EN-CA style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>He couldn't care less if they're naughty or nice</span></p><p class=xmsonormal><span lang=EN-CA style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>But they'd have to show proof that they'd had their shot twice.</span></p><p class=xmsonormal><span lang=EN-CA style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>But then the old twinkle returned to his eyes.</span></p><p class=xmsonormal><span lang=EN-CA style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>And he said that he'd brought me a Christmas surprise.</span></p><p class=xmsonormal><span lang=EN-CA style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>When I unwrapped the box and opened it wide,</span></p><p class=xmsonormal><span lang=EN-CA style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>Starlight and rainbows streamed out from inside.</span></p><p class=xmsonormal><span lang=EN-CA style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>Some letters whirled round and flew up to the sky</span></p><p class=xmsonormal><span lang=EN-CA style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>And they spelled out a word that was 40 feet high.</span></p><p class=xmsonormal><span lang=EN-CA style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>There first was an H, then an O, then a P,</span></p><p class=xmsonormal><span lang=EN-CA style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>Then I saw it spelled HOPE when it added the E.</span></p><p class=xmsonormal><span lang=EN-CA style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>"Christmas magic" said Santa as he smiled through his beard.</span></p><p class=xmsonormal><span lang=EN-CA style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>Then suddenly all of the reindeer appeared.</span></p><p class=xmsonormal><span lang=EN-CA style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>He jumped into his sleigh and he waved me good-bye,</span></p><p class=xmsonormal><span lang=EN-CA style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>Then he soared o'er the rooftops and into the sky.</span></p><p class=xmsonormal><span lang=EN-CA style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>I heard him exclaim as he drove out of sight</span></p><p class=xmsonormal><span lang=EN-CA style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>"Get your vaccines my friends, Merry Christmas, good-night".</span></p><p class=xmsonormal><span lang=EN-CA style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'>Then I went back to bed and a sweet Christmas dream</span></p><p class=xmsonormal><span lang=EN-CA style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black'>Of a world when we'd finished with Covid 19.</span></p><div><p class=xmsonormal><span lang=EN-CA style='font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black'> </span></p></div></div></div></div></blockquote></div></blockquote></div></div></div></div></div><p class=xmsonormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:1.0in;margin-bottom:5.0pt;margin-left:1.0in'><span lang=EN-CA style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black'><br>Joseph David</span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div></body></html>