'Twas the night before Christmas

And before he went to bed,

Death strung tinsel around his house

In gold, green and red

He put the final touches

On his beautiful Christmas tree

Taking a step back

He looked at it in glee

Death had finished baking cookies,

He had frosted the cake too

In the house the scent of cinnamon

Gently wafted through

He added some rum

To his homemade eggnog

To the dying embers in the fireplace,

He put another log

He sat down at the table

To finish his letter to St Nick

Since it was Christmas eve

He had to be quick

He was so sure that Santa

Would check his list more than twice

Death had done many bad things

He had been more naughty than nice

He had reaped a lot of souls

Way before their time

But he was just doing his job

Would Santa really mind?

He kept the letter on a table

Along with some bottles of beer

Cookies and cake for Santa

And grass for his reindeer

He took a final look around

Before going up to bed

Hoping visions of anguished souls

Wouldn't dance through his head

Death was awakened by a sound

Later on that night

He tip toed down stairs

And was amazed at the sight

Santa was filling the stockings

And placing presents here and there

He suddenly spied the food

Smiling, he sat in a chair

He took a swig of beer

And ate a slice of cake

After reading part of the letter

He saw he had made a mistake

Taking a deep breath

He realised he wasn't in Emily's abode

He was in fact in Death's house

Christmas' antipode

Santa quickly gathered the presents

And told the reindeer to prepare

Watching the scene from the staircase,

Death looked on in horror and despair

Death ran down the stairs

Begging for forgiveness on his knees

St Nick said Death's evil deeds

Could never be appeased

Christmas was not an occasion

For Death to celebrate

Instead of bringing joy to the world,

All Death did was take

Take a person's life

And fill it with so much sadness and grief

Death skulked in the shadows

Stealing souls like a thief

St Nick walked through the door

Leaving Death to feel sorry for his plight

Tears rolled down Death's face

As he watched the sleigh fly out of sight