IF only I were Santa Claus I 'd travel east and west <br />To every hovel where there lies a little child at rest; <br />I'd drive my reindeer over roofs they'd never trod before, <br />I 'd seek the tenements where sleep the babies on the floor, <br />Where rags are stuffed in broken panes to keep the wind away, <br />And where a warm and cozy room is never known today; <br />For even there I know I 'd find hung up the stockings small <br />As signs that they expected me on Christmas Eve to call. <br /> <br />If only I were Santa Claus I 'd pass the mansions, by <br />And seek the cold and cheerless homes where palefaced youngsters lie; <br />And as they slept I 'd pause a while and bending low, I 'd kiss <br />The lips of every little tot — not one of them I 'd miss; <br />And then I 'd fill their stockings full of toys and sugar plums, <br />And leave them sleighs and skates and dolls and Teddy bears and drums. <br />I would not pass a cottage by, but I would try to be <br />A Santa Claus to every tot who still has faith in me. <br /> <br />If only I were Santa Claus — I 'd make the mothers glad, <br />The dear, hard-working mothers who at Christmas time are sad; <br />The kind and patient mothers who rock their babes to sleep, <br />And through the lonely hours of night sob bitterly and weep. <br />They see their precious little ones half clad and hungry, too, <br />Knowing the sorrow that must come to them when night is through; <br />To every mother's face I 'd bring the smiles once more, and we <br />Would spend a while together at her babies' Christmas tree.<br /><br />Edgar Albert Guest<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/if-i-were-santa-claus/
