Merry Christmas - Florida Keys Style

‘Twas the night before Christmas all through the Keys
No noses were frozen, no snow on the trees.
Children in briefs lay tucked in their beds
Visions of key limes danced through their heads.

Parents were busy all through the house
Decorating and wrapping, as quiet as a mouse.
To find wreaths of holly was not very hard
For holly trees grow in every back yard.

The sleeping kiddies were dreaming with glee
Hoping for fishing poles under the tree.
They all knew that Santa was well on his way
In a SeaCraft with an outboard instead of a sleigh.

Alas there's no Rudolph to act as a guide
But dolphins aplenty swim by his side.
And soon he arrived and started his work
(He hadn’t a second to linger or shirk).

He whizzed up the ocean and down through the bay
Raising a clamor as he sped on his way.
The tropical moon gave the beach such a glow
It lighted the way for old Santa below.

As he jumped from his SeaCraft he gave a wee chuckle
In his bright red Bermudas with a big silver buckle.
There were no chimneys, but that caused no gloom
For Santa came in through the Florida room.

He stopped at each house, staying only a minute
Emptying his sack of the gifts that were in it.
Before he departed he treated himself
To the salty margarita he found on the shelf.

He turned with a start and ran down the road
No time to waste to deliver his load.
He started his motor with a jerk and a splash
And up the channel he went like a flash.

And I heard him exclaim as he went on his way
“Merry Christmas to all, how I wish I could stay,
But to the north I must go in the cold and the snow
To deliver good cheer and a warm 'Ho! Ho! Ho!''"