The Snow Elf

Crystals, in the darkness, fall,
A mist of wispy white.
While silence covers one and all
And nothing stirs, and nothing stalls
The snowflake in its flight.
 
Alone in thought, the Snow Elf rocks
Before a meager fire.
With blanket cover, lap to socks
He sips his tea to ticking clocks
Too weary to retire.
 
In solitude, for many a year
He’s lived within the wood.
Among the pines and polar bear,
He keeps a herd of tiny deer
In reindeer moss for food.
 
But as the snow falls light to earth
He knows the time draws nigh
When eight, among his little herd  
Will, chosen, leave his home and hearth
And once more, take to sky.
 
And all alone, he’ll pace the floor
And worry through the night.
Until the dawn breaks at his door
And those few chosen are once more
Returned from their great flight.
 
And for his service to the king,  
What does the elf receive;
What song of him, do others sing?
The childhood joy his reindeer bring
On every Christmas Eve.