Children find it hard to believe
That at last it is Christmas Eve.
Letters to Santa have long gone,
They have been waiting for so long.
Many go early to their beds
Thoughts of Santa filling their heads.
For the reindeers they have left treats;
For Santa lots to drink and eat.

They find it hard to close their eyes,
Awake again with each new noise.
All hoping for sleigh bells to hear
Now that Santa is getting near.
They worry were they good enough?
That Santa won't have enough stuff,
That their names are on the bad list,
That somehow their house might be missed.

So much goes through their little minds
Making it hard for sleep to find.
Though finally they do nod off
With lots of nice things to dream of.
Then when next morning they awake,
(For many well before day break)
They find that Santa has come through
And made all of their dreams come true.

They get a wonderful surprise,
Awe and wonder in their young eyes,
Reminding every one of us
Of the magic that is Christmas.

"Alternative Facts" the truth belies,
Often in "Fake News" the real truth lies,
"Exaggeration", "Aggrandizing"
In truth are other words for lying.
The value of honesty seems lost,
Sad truth is, at a terrible cost!

To our kids now we must emphasise
That Facts; the Truth, must Always Trump Lies,
That by lying there's nothing to gain;
That Truth cannot be held in disdain.
From lies and untruths all must refrain
To make Truth, Honesty, Great Again!

Though darkness will often descend
One should remember on such days
That dark days shall come to an end
And the light will return always.

Often we wait, we hesitate,
We contemplate and ruminate,
Deliberate, procrastinate,
'Til it's too late.
'Til whereupon, not acted on,
Our chance has gone. Perhaps our one,
And only one, chance is forgone.
And life goes on....

Not all angels have a halo or wings.
Not all demons have tails, horns protruding.
It can be so hard to tell them apart
For good and evil lie within the heart.

If I had given up along the way
No way would I be where I am today.
Though reaching our goals can at times be tough,
To get where we want...we must want it enough.

There is no greater spectacle
As two teams ready for battle
For club or province or country
In the great game we call Rugby.

A game of defence and attack
One against one, pack against pack,
Punishing scrums, hard tackling,
Great kicking and ball handling.

No quarter given nor expect
All play with mutual respect
Though each team give their all to win
All play with such great discipline.

Each player there for the other
All supporting one another
Each combining to make the whole
Working towards a common goal.

Players give it all on the day
Leave nothing on the field of play.
A game full of heart and passion.....
And valuable life lessons.

No one has ever made me feel as good
About myself in the way that you do.
No one has ever truly understood
Just what I am all about except you.
Together we have seen good times and bad
Shoulder to shoulder we somehow get through.
Oh the laughter and tears that we have had;
Life would just not be the same without you.
No better friend could there possibly be;
So honest and steadfast, loyal and true.
Know that our friendship means the world to me,
That I shall always be a friend to you.
My lifelong friendship you can rely on,
For you, my friend, are one in a million.

There are loves that compare to none
Such as between Father and Son,
Who share for all eternity
A bond which undone cannot be.
For a Father there is no one
They can love as they do their Son,
Perhaps for in this precious boy
They see themselves from days gone by.

As men speak not of emotion
'Tis a love not oft of spoken.
For seldom the word love is said,
Many words and deeds used instead.
Though when Sons do Fathers become
They begin to understand some
Of the love Fathers have for Sons,
How their Son they love like no one.

To be loved brings joy beyond measure
Though to love is the most precious treasure.
Which is why what all of us yearn to do
Is find the one we can give our heart to.
One whom to us is so precious and dear,
That we dare to love without any fear.
The one we love with all our heart and soul,
One whose love in return makes us feel whole.