Rusty Jake's Christmas Gift

A Poem by Lanny

Long, narrative poem with Americana and western flavour.

Rusty Jake’s Christmas Gift

(This is a long, narrative poem done with an Americana, western flavour as the events that inspired this writing took place in my local area.)

Now Rusty Jake, the story’s told

He had a heart of solid gold

A treasured bachelor it was true

As somethin’ wondrous he did do.

When winter cold had locked the land

A widow poor required a hand

She had six kids, their pa had died

With Christmas comin’, how she cried:

No firewood in their old shack

No tasty grub, just old hardtack

No Christmas gifts, nor playthings new

No hope for cheer, it sure was true.

The folks in town knew of her plight

They made some plans to set things right

For Widow Brown and all her crew.

Some kindly things those folks would do.

Well, coats and gloves the banker bought,

Then scarves and caps, without a thought.

The wimmin’ folks stitched clothes with care

Some brand-new duds for all to wear.

The blacksmith forged some metal toys

To cheer those hopeless girls and boys.

And dolls, the sportin’ gals they bought

A wistful, tender, heartfelt thought

The kids at school, warm stockin’s knit

But that was not the half of it

They held a drive to gather food

And firewood to warm that brood.

The doctor bought a Christmas cake.

The dancin’ gals did cookies make.

And letters left that little spot

To plead for gifts, and gifts they got!

The preacher found a hog right fat;

The butcher soon took care of that.

The livery stable sold a horse,

The cash for Mother Brown of course.

The owner of the general store

Gave sweetest candies by the score.

The printer’s shop packed books to read

For Christmas stories are a need.

The sheriff and the marshal too

Found somethin’ good they both could do.

They hired a team to pull the sleigh

To haul those Christmas gifts away.

But Christmas Eve was turnin’ bad

A blizzard fierce was roarin’ mad

The roads was drifted mighty tight

With frightful snow that stormy night.

The town-folks met to see if there

Was someone who would head out there

To freight those gifts to Wid’r Brown

Who lived a lengthy stretch from town.

The worry was, that route was steep

And in that storm, right tough to keep

The way in sight and not get lost,

Such tragedy, a dreadful cost.

But men with wife and kiddies too

They felt the risk just wouldn’t do--

Perhaps the trip on Christmas day

If things were good to pull that sleigh?

Now Rusty Jake was seated there.

He raised his hand and left his chair,

“I’ll take this job this Christmas eve

For Santy’s Christmas gifts to leave.

Those kiddies need to wake to fun

That ma, she needs this job now done.

I’m used to weather mighty rough

This job I’ll do, though it be tough.

The storm it raged as Jake went out

The wind it packed an awful clout.

But Jake was drove by stronger stuff

To try his best, he’d never bluff.

The blizzard roared and howled that night

That monster white a dreadful sight.

When Jake got lost he knew a trick

That worked for him, as it was slick.

He knew the storm raged from the west

So he dug down to do a test

The snow, that grass had sure knocked flat,

So he knew north and south from that!

Then up he got to drive that sleigh

Though many times he lost his way

But with his trick so tried and true

That Rusty Jake, he made it through.

The widow Brown had set that night

A candle burning clear and bright

Tradition made her put it there

When storms was ragin’ anywhere.

Her kids asleep, her woes so sad

She knew no Christmas would be had.

Just as the chimes tolled twelve o’clock

Upon her door there came a knock . . .

Now just imagine her surprise

When she saw Rusty Jake’s blue eyes!

And then her heart was filled with love

As she gave praise to God above.

Well Rusty brought those gifts inside

He laid them out with humble pride

The widow heard how everyone

In town had planned their Christmas fun.

The storm blew out before the dawn

And Jake, of course, was long, long gone.

The kids woke up with wonderin’ eyes

To see their Christmas morn surprise.

Now Rusty Jake, the story’s told

He had a heart of solid gold

A treasured bachelor it was true

As somethin’ wondrous he did do.

Lanny

-This narrative poem was inspired by a true story, one that happened in my local area in the late 1800’s

-Letters really did go out, and people truly did send gifts

-People in the community did make donations

-Their really was a horrible blizzard that Christmas Eve

-My grandfather used to work for a large ranch not far from where I now live. He got lost in a terrible blizzard one night while out herding cattle. He found his way back to the bunkhouse and warm shelter by dismounting, then digging under the snow to find which direction the tall grass had been knocked down early in the storm. As he knew the storm had raged from out of the west, he then knew east, north, and south, and that quick thinking was what saved his life that terrible night.

-A brave soul really did volunteer to ensure the gifts got there before Christmas morning

© 2018 Lanny

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barleygirl

MIND BLOWN! You might've noticed I'm a rhyme & rhythm fiend myself, but I can't hold a candle to this! To sustain it so far in a lengthy epic storytelling riff is quite remarkable. Being a country hick living on the border of wilderness myself, I'm all about using a country voice in writing, but here you've really nailed it in a consistent way. This makes me want to write a poem to thank my friends . . . 5 years ago, neck surgery, took me a year to walk again . . . people came to my cabin in the boondocks & took care of my animals & things while in hospital for 2 weeks. Came home to a freezer full of ready-to-nuke homemade healthy meals. Amazing! People are amazing & this is the norm rather than the exception. Too bad the blaring hounds are only bleating about the bad things! Great uplifting story for Christmastime (((HUGS))) Fondly, Margie