The Christmas bus poem you didn’t know you needed

I wrote this poem for my son, who is obsessed with articulated buses. It is based on the classic Clement Clarke Moore poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas,” also known by its more popular name, “Twas the Night Before Christmas.”

Santa Rides an Articulated Bus

‘Twas the night before Christmas
And the tension was thick
All Santa’s reindeer
Were in their beds, sick.

Santa did not know
How he’d make his way
Without any reindeer
To pull on his sleigh.

He needed a solution—
Quick, with no fuss.
Then one of his elves said,
“What about a bus?”

Santa said, “Yes! A bus!
I can fly it with magic.
But get me a big one,
For it would be tragic

“If all the dear children
Did not get their presents,
For there’s good in their hearts
And Christmas should be pleasant.”

So the elves found a bus,
In all their sagacity.
Santa said, “That looks nice,
But I need more capacity.

“A regular bus
Is too, too understated.
Get me a huge bus—
One that’s articulated!

“Sixty long feet
From fender to fender,
And right in the middle
A big, black rubber bender!

“It carries 120 people—
It can carry their toys,
And I can then bring them
To all girls and boys.”

So the elves found a bus.
At first they were nervous,
But Metro let them borrow
One that wasn’t in service.

They packed all the gifts-
Then up, up, and away!
The engine more powerful
Than an eight-reindeer sleigh.

Of course everybody missed
Rudolph’s red nose,
But the bus’s bright headlights
Also cast some nice glows.

And the open-air sleigh
Took another defeat
When Santa felt the blast
Of the bus’s warm heat.

Santa took off his coat
And stripped down to his vest.
(On the front of the bus?
“25 NORTH POLE EXPRESS.”)

Soon the elves told the kids,
Who all spread the word:
If you want some presents,
You must pull a cord.

Then in Santa’s bus,
Where he sat snugly vested,
A computerized voice
Would say “Stop requested,”

And Santa would park
On the sloping rooftop
And go quick down the chimney
At every stop.

Then things went the same
As on Christmases before:
Stockings, cookies, toys,
You’ve heard all the lore.

His belly was jiggling,
In his eye was a twinkle.
Every so often
He got off to go tinkle.

As the night passed quickly,
Santa quaked in his boots.
Time was running short:
He needed more routes.

So Santa called out
For more buses to fly:
“On, 70! On, X2
And 11Y!

“On, J2! On, Y8!
On S2 and 4!”
And as soon as he called them,
He had buses galore.

He went out to Chicago
For the 156.
Soon the 151
Was also in the mix.

With so many buses
Flying through the night,
The presents were delivered
By dawn’s early light.

As the buses went back
To their depots to rest,
Ol’ Saint Nick himself
Said it the best:

“The children are happy.
The reindeer are resting.
These articulated buses
Were a true blessing.

“I’ll drive back to the Pole,
As you know that I must.
Merry Christmas to all!
And thank you for riding Metrobus.”