Classic Poem

Hag-haunted men who stare too long at rivers,
Stoop-shouldered girls who weep too much o' nights,
What line marks off the takers from the givers
In our confusing world of wrongs and rights?

The lamp posts, dribbling light on foggy byways,
Know tales too dark for sons of men to tell;
And cobblestones along forgotten highways
Have clanged to Death, the deathless sentinel.

This Christmas cheer within is reassuring;
Our women have warm hands and tender eyes;
But there outside the shadows wait, enduring,
And ghosts in ambush mock our paradise.
Tonight the Prince of Peace has banished sorrow;
Tomorrow lurks around the turn ... Tomorrow!