At the back of the stage in a gloomy wee room
Where the cockroaches eat what the rats don’t consume
There’s a table enveloped in paper and grime
On a carpet now lost to a happier time
With a cast iron typewriter, rusted with age
In the gloomy wee room at the back of the stage

And under a lampshade of nicotine brown
Sits a comical legend of zero renown
How he plugs at the keys of his rattling beast
The years of persistence have left him decreased
Now he’s stuck in the shade of his hovering doom
At the back of the stage in a gloomy wee room

His words are for others and too, the applause
Though a standing ovation might cause him to pause
He hasn’t the courage to speak them aloud
For he’s lacking the bottle and shy of a crowd
So he captures the laughter in lines on his page
In a gloomy wee room at the back of the stage

Home is the place where all hearts turn
When Christmas comes again

The place that draws you through the fog
The snow the wind and rain

To take your place beside the fire
Wherever it may be

And hope for peace, and good cheer
And gay festivity

Year by year the same old words
Of greetings we repeat

But never seem to tire
When friends and families meet

So rejoice right through to Christmas night
And  over the world's dark shadows
Cast some some heavenly light

Keith Wilson. Windermere, UK 2016