Dragon like he sat, among his piles of gold <br />While a single candle gave <br />The only flickering light <br />Yet in the ash filled grate <br />No fire to give warmth <br />Though outside the bitter wind <br />Blew through any hole <br />Snow had fallen, snow on snow <br />And ice on top of it <br />He had to have a clerk <br />But made the man's life a misery <br />Paying him only a begruged pittance <br />That kept the man and his family <br />On the poverty stricken line <br />He chased away the carol singers <br />His nephew too, when he came to call <br />He kept his poor clerk working hard <br />Till the clock struck seven that Christmas Eve <br />As he walked back to his lonely house <br />He thought he saw a death coach <br />Ghostly white, trot past him <br />The driver toffed his hat <br />And wished him the compliments of the Season <br />He thought he saw his doorknocker change <br />Into the face of his dead partner <br />Who hollowly called his name <br />He sat down to his lonely supper <br />When suddenly all the bells did ring <br />He cried out, ' Humbug; I don't believe it' <br />But then the ghost of Marley came<br /><br />Marilyn Shepperson<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/scrooge/
