I come
to you now with my
To commit my soul by my own free will
For if I don't dare to climb that hill
Then tell my tale nobody will
One winter's night, long ago
They were wide awake in a carriage house
And I snuck to the window
like a stable mouse
The I can't forget and my
hair's gone white
The things I saw in the flickering light
One winter's night, long ago
They were all in the kitchen
and the drink did flow
There was
Bing and
Dean on the radio
The wind did howl, it was ten below
They were safe and sound from
the ice and snow
And on the windowsill by the candle's glow
I could see an old cat gallery
A bowl of cloves and pistachios
A bow on a thistle and some mistletoe
The twilight winters night, long ago
Once I surveyed the scene,
I made my haste
Up to the chimney without a trace
For the sand runs fast at a rapid pace
And it's
Christmas
Eve, no time to waste
I crept past the kitchen on
the tip of my toes
Straight to the parlor where
the pine tree grows
A string of socks lined up in rows
I was followed by that old cat,
Calico
One winter's night, long ago
There in the house of the family hood
They had nine little babes
and they'd all been good
I was carrying more than
an old man should
Nine little kittens made out of wood
As I knelt beneath that
Christmas tree and spread
the gifts out quietly
All at once, so suddenly,
I found myself with company
For winter's night, I'm all alone
His presence shocked and bothered me
For I must work in secrecy
But there he was, all shadowy
His features clipped in mystery
His voice was low and billowy
As he offered his apology
Do not fear, he said to me
And pardon my proximity
My name is
Arthur
Hood, he said
But you can call me
Art instead
I built the floor upon which we tread
And I built the roof up over it
And much like you I am seldom seen,
rarely one to intervene
I fix things up and I keep things clean,
catching leaks and mending screens
And I've always felt that you and
I were of one fate to occupy
Pleased to meet you eye to eye
And he wished me well
Then he said goodbye
In the winter's night
Long ago
It was time to go
For the bells did ring
I had a list of lists
About a thousand things
My swan song I shall not sing,
for thee I must leave what the silence brings
For it's winter's night, come on home
I was heading for the chimney
just as slow as I could
When I saw on the mantel
carved into the wood
Six little words that would shiver me good
In loving memory of
Arthur
Hood
One winter's night long ago
In loving memory of
Arthur
Hood
One winter's night long ago
One winter's night, long ago
One winter's night, long ago