Arctic Rivalries
Reindeer team is encountering woes—
For they face unforeseen blinding snows.
No, the challenge ain’t new,
But their options are few:
The damn Russians have hacked Rudolph’s nose!
–Tom Riley
The Plan to Capture Santa Claus
His plan to capture Santa Claus was stark
In its unparalleled simplicity.
Next to his own house grew a lofty tree
Whose boughs could bear him up. There, in the dark,
He would wait, sniper rifle at the ready,
For the arrival of the laden sleigh.
Take the lead reindeer out – and they’d all stay,
The visitants of Christmas Eve, unsteady.
He should have guessed, of course, that Santa had
A thorough network of insightful spies.
He should have seen the scorn in merry eyes.
Too late! Too late! Words simple, stark, and sad.
Off then to Santa’s gulag, ill-intentioned.
Funny. The Infant Christ was never mentioned.
–Tom Riley
Worse than Morgoth
Tolkien’s Elves are diminished, their soul
Having paid time’s impossible toll
Down through age after age.
Some have now reached the stage
Where they labor at Santa’s North Pole.
–Tom Riley
Flammeus Gladius 