* Twas the night before Christmas on Wikimedia *
(Variation on "A Visit from St. Nicholas", written in the year 1823 by Clement Clarke Moore)

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all thro' the wikis,
Not a creature was stirring, not even a bot;
The stockings were hung by the talk pages with care,
In hopes that Jimbo soon would be there;
The students were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of barnstars danc'd in their heads;

And Mama in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter's nap —
When out at the village pump there arose such a clatter,
James Alexander sprang from bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the wiki I flew like a flash,
Opened a window, and logged in, in a dash.

What to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer,
With a little old driver, so lively and bold,
I knew in a moment it must be Jimbo.
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of barnstars — and Jimbo too:
And then in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Down the chimney Jimbo came with a bound:
He was dress'd all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnish'd with ashes and soot;
A bundle of barnstars was flung on his back,
And he look'd like a peddler just opening his pack.
And I laugh'd when I saw him in spite of myself;
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And fill'd all the stockings; then turn'd with a jerk,
And laying his finger aside of his nose
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose.
He sprung to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew, like the down of a thistle:
But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight —
"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night."


Merry Christmas, Wikimedians. (: