Father Christmas, by Tanya Adèle Koehnke

Radio Station Children's Christmas Party, by Sam Hood (Australia) 1931

Editor's note: The image above is a substitute one. This poem was written in response to a vintage Fox/Getty photo from 1931. Click here to see it. We encourage you to take a peek- it's worth viewing the author's source of inspiration.
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Father Christmas
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Not moppets in pretty snow-globe scenes
but little old men 
whose wrinkled scrunched-up faces
sense the glum gloom of December
that greys their eyes
that sparkle with surprise!
when Santa Claus arrives
at their Advent window.
 
The local pauper
plays his festive role
consoling of spirit
rich of heart
delivering with a glad hand
from the packed sack on his back
clementines and chocolates
trinkets to tinker with
cloth animals stuffed and stitched 
for charity.
 
The five young boys
reach for his toys and affection
while the toddler paws
his red-and-white suit
clings to him to feel if he is real 
and he is.
 
Father Christmas smiles
beneath his long white beard
when he hears the urchins thank him
for his lavish and humble gifts
that bring peace and joy 
to the orphanage
that he will revisit 
​next Christmas Eve
when he will adopt them
or so they imagine
their eyes twinkling
like the star of Bethlehem.

Tanya Adèle Koehnke

Tanya Adèle Koehnke is a member of The Ontario Poetry Society (T.O.P.S.) and the Scarborough Poetry Club.  Tanya's poems appear in The Ekphrastic Review; The Ekphrastic World Anthology 2020; The Canvas; Big Art Book; Canadian Woman Studies; Foreplay: An Anthology of Word Sonnets; Tea-Ku:  Poems About Tea; Grid Poems:  A Guide and Workbook; and other publications.  Tanya taught English at several post-secondary institutions in Toronto.  Tanya also has a background in arts journalism.