the disappearance

The Disappearance


There was a tramp, who lived under a wooden bridge
that crossed a stream that was lucid had shiny pebbles
and rainbow trout which he caught, fried and shared
with his dog that was big, black and looked like a bear.
When children crossed the bridge he thrillingly scared
them by asking: Who is walking on my bridge?” But
mostly he sang carols all by himself. Pious farmers
thought he was holy, left food hampers for him, made
the sign of the cross and felt good, went to church and
gave alms to the huddled poor by the sainted door.

But there were bad people too who threw stones at his
dog and shouted nasty words when crossing the bridge.
One night the tramp’s dog howled so madly that night
got scared ran off and dawn had to save the day by
arriving at one o’clock. The brave went to inspect and
found a grotto lit by candles it had the christmas aroma
of orange peel left drying on the stove. “Santa Claus has
gone forever they grieved, we mustn’t tell the children
though, so this coming winter one of us has to pretend
to be him to let the story of this man live on.