Tuesday, December 21, 2021

Twas the Night Before Christmas---Phoenix Wildflower Style

The company Elisha works for, Wildflower Bread Co, is doing a a Christmas competition for employees where they could either do a short video or a short story. I decided I'd write the Night Before Christmas poem for her to enter into the competition. We'll have to see how that goes! She did make a few edits to this poem as she obviously knows her work better than I do, but I don't have that version, so this is the one you'll get, and you'll have to ask her how she changed it.


A few bits of info:

Jimmy Johns is the sandwich shop right next door. That chain has the tagline "So fast you'll freak". Elisha worked for them in Gainesville and really disliked the company

Eat, Sip, and Enjoy is the tagline for Wildflower



'Twas the night before Christmas, when all thro' Wildflower,

No creature was stirring, not at this hour!

The tables were cleaned with the greatest of care,

Because smiling customers soon would be there;

Sandwich lovers tossed and turned in their bed

Due to growling stomachs anxious for bread

And Mama in her seat, and I driving the car,

Had just tuned the radio to soothing guitar.

When out by the mall there arose such a clatter,

I unbuckled my seatbelt to see what was the matter.

Away from the car, I sprinted with speed,

Reaching the sidewalk like a galloping steed. 

City lights twinkling across the valley that night

Silhouetted the mountains like the dawn of firstlight 

When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,

But a van full of flowers and wheat for a year.

With a little ole baker, and shoes that did jingle

I knew in a moment it must be Kris Kringle

Faster than jimmy johns, the sandwiches he made

Calling them out as if on parade

“Now! Rueben, now! ham, now! turkey and brie

On! Triple Club, on! Tuna, on! yummy BLT”

“From the back of the oven to the top of the plate

Get them while they’re hot, they’re more than first rate”

As I peered in the store, and was hiding my face,

Out the kitchen came Kringle with elegance and grace

He was dress'd in an apron, clean from a shower

And his clothes were all covered in spices and flour;

A garden of fresh vegetables he held tight in his hand

And he looked like a farmer giving thanks to the land

His eyes - how they smiled! his humming how sweet,

I knew right that instant, he was making a treat.

His droll little mouth was smiling with glee,

From tasting his creation, Would he share it with me? 

A baker’s hat he placed back on his head

And excitement filled me as I thought of the bread

The stem of a wildflower he held tight in his teeth,

An accessory he had surely plucked from our wreath

He had a cute face, but was verging on plump

And he shook as a he danced, especially his rump

His baking was magic, a right jolly old elf,

And my mouth began to water in spite of myself

A wink of his eye and a last taste of the bread

Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.

He whistled a Christmas tune and continued his job,

Adding frosting to carrot cake without being a slob

Leaving cheer in the tip jar, he gave a slight wave

And left whence he’d entered, a move rather brave

He sprung to his van, high-fiving each wildflower

And drove towards the city, soon obscured by a tower

But I heard him exclaim to the sleeping hoi palloi

[or But I heard him exclaim, in a voice rather coy]

Happy Christmas to all; Eat, sip and enjoy.



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