{"id":285,"date":"2016-12-10T01:34:01","date_gmt":"2016-12-10T05:34:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.freerangepoetry.com\/?p=285"},"modified":"2020-10-22T16:03:19","modified_gmt":"2020-10-22T20:03:19","slug":"merry-christmas-eight-fifteen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.freerangepoetry.com\/?p=285","title":{"rendered":"Merry Christmas, Eight Fifteen!"},"content":{"rendered":"

(Major 8:15 started over\u00a0Montezuma<\/a> and was routed down through Amarillo<\/a>.
\nWe join him now, at night, over the Pacific Ocean.)<\/em><\/p>\n

This is Major 8:15 hailing anyone to hear
\nI’ve been over open ocean for what seems like half a year
\nI see a spot of land below, thought I’d give this thing a try
\nIt’s pretty lonely here, the only car up in the sky!<\/p>\n

A little north of Lubbock, the wind had turned me west
\nI fell asleep behind the wheel, which\u2019s prob\u2019ly for the best
\nI yawned as I passed Gallup, and I dreamed I saw LA
\nT\u2019was all decked out in lights for the coming holiday!<\/p>\n

It’s dark and getting darker, as I fly into the night
\nbut I’m sure there must be land down there, I think I see some light
\nI’d love to hear a tower, or at least a friendly voice
\nAnd I’d sure love to land this car if I had any choice!<\/p>\n

(radio static)<\/em><\/p>\n

Aloha 8:15, this is Honolulu Field!
\nYou’re a little bit off course, so we\u2019ve had our traffic yield
\nYou\u2019ve been in that car so long, it\u2019s hard to quite believe!
\nJust so you know, it\u2019s Midnight, and today is Christmas Eve!<\/p>\n

Thank you Honolulu, it is good to hear your call!
\nI was starting in to wonder if there was anyone at all
\nIf you\u2019ve got some festive spirits, I could use a healthy dose:
\nAll I want for Christmas is to see the ground up close!<\/p>\n

(radio static)<\/em><\/p>\n

We read you 8:15, but we haven\u2019t got a clue
\nI wish that there were something else or more that we could do
\nYour altitude is steady and your vector path is fine
\nYou\u2019re accelerating past us heading toward the World Date Line.<\/p>\n

I gotta tell you tower, I don’t know what the Seven Hells\u2026
\nI swear to you my iPod’s off, but Tower, I hear bells!
\nI can\u2019t see a thing, I haven\u2019t seen a plane go by
\nBut I\u2019ve got a funny feeling I\u2019m not alone up in this sky!<\/p>\n

When suddenly a brand new voice just broke across the air,
\nan old voice, half remembered, his accent sounds like everywhere
\n“Tower, you can take a nap.\u00a0 This metal bird’s all right;<\/em><\/span>
\n I’m deputizing 8:15 \u2013 he’s helping ME tonight.”<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNow 8:15, you just relax, everything’ll\u00a0turn out fine.<\/span><\/em>
\n You see, it\u2019s Christmas Day on the far side of that line,<\/em><\/span>
\n and I\u2019m a shy a couple reindeer, \u2018cause Rudolph has the flu<\/em><\/span>
\n and Dancer broke her gosh-darn leg \u2013 I need your Malibu!\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Santa, if that\u2019s really you, let\u2019s hear a Ho Ho Ho!
\nI\u2019m not sure this car\u2019s equipped to pull a sleigh, you know?
\nI\u2019m glad to help and all, but tell me, what\u2019s the deal?
\nThe toys, and elves, and everything \u2013 really, are you real?<\/p>\n

(radio static)<\/em><\/p>\n

This is Honolulu Tower calling Major 8:15,
\nI think that you should know we\u2019re tracking two birds on our screen.
\nYou are not, repeat ARE NOT, alone up in that air,
\nAnd we\u2019re getting word from NORAD we should all proceed with care!<\/p>\n

\u201cEight fifteen, just pop your trunk and I will do the rest.<\/span><\/em>
\n The elves are real, the reindeer fly, I\u2019ve got the big red vest.<\/span><\/em>
\n We\u2019ll fly across to Christmas with all these heavy toys,<\/span><\/em>
\n And you can help me drop them off to all good girls and boys.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

I popped the trunk and felt a jolt, and fast as I could think,
\nA reindeer pulled up next to me and gave a little wink!
\nThen what next to my wondering eyes should suddenly appear
\nBut a fully decked out sleigh in my rear-view window mirror!<\/p>\n

Then the windshield went all white with a shimmer and a glow,
\nwith a curtain-like aurora from the ocean down below
\nto the stars up overhead – and it was coming up real fast.
\nI guessed that all my flying luck had run out on me at last.<\/p>\n

\u201cCalm your jets now, 8:15, and don\u2019t sound so damn tragic,<\/span><\/em>
\n you\u2019re not gonna die because of some old Christmas magic!<\/span><\/em>
\n Now you lean on and honk your horn, and I\u2019ll give mine a jingle,<\/span><\/em>
\n and we\u2019ll let the world below us know you\u2019re flying with Kris Kringle!\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

I tried to stay calm\u2019s I could, since he sounded very certain,
\nAnd quick as Dasher\u2019s little wink, we\u2019d flown right through that curtain!
\nWe were off to every house, and spreading gifts around
\nand I forgot a little while how I\u2019d wished to come on down!<\/p>\n

The night was shaping up a blur, we rose and dipped and soared
\nThe reindeer pulled their heavy weight as my Chevy\u2019s engines roared!
\nFrom Fiji to New Zealand to New Guinea to Bel Air
\nOld Santa kept us flying: \u00a0Destination, everywhere!<\/p>\n

Every house in both Koreas, every address in Japan,
\neach apartment down in old Shanghai and every home in all Hunan.
\nFrom Russia to Australia, all of Asia, every ‘stan,
\nand every town in Africa, from Cape Town to Sudan.<\/p>\n

We hit ’em all, we hit ’em fast, we made a blur across the sky!
\nWe left those gifts across the world for every girl and guy,
\nFrom Europe up to Iceland, Venezuela and Peru,
\nFrom Mexico to Canada, and Puerto Rico too.<\/p>\n

That evening took a live-long day, but it seemed like just an hour,
\nThose reindeer really have some awesome staying power!
\nNext thing I knew, my wheels were down and my speed was nearly nil –
\nSanta Claus had stopped his sleigh just down from Dead Man’s Hill!<\/p>\n

“Merry Christmas, 8:15! \u00a0I think we’ll do the rest.<\/span><\/em>
\nThere ain’t that many houses left, since we’re out this far west.<\/span><\/em>
\nAbout\u00a0that car of yours, from now on, please keep it on the soil;<\/span><\/em>
\ncheck the brakes and change the tires, and don’t forget to check your oil.”<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

I stepped out of the car as my seat belt snap unlocked
\nand stood, a bit unsteady, as my view was partly blocked
\nby a team of seven reindeer and a massive bright red sleigh.
\n“Thank you, Santa! \u00a0Merry Christmas!” was all that I could say.<\/p>\n

I sold that car on Christmas Day! \u00a0Since then, I walk or stroll.
\nAnd I sent cards to all my friends in air traffic control.
\nWhen I tell this story to my crew, they say that it’s all talk –
\nBut I’m here to tell you, brother, that’s the reason that I walk!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Major 8:15 started over\u00a0Montezuma and was routed down through Amarillo. We join him now, at night, over the Pacific Ocean.) This is Major 8:15 hailing anyone to hear I’ve been…<\/p>\n

Continue readingMerry Christmas, Eight Fifteen!<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[9,39,10,41,11,38,40,19],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.freerangepoetry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.freerangepoetry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.freerangepoetry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.freerangepoetry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.freerangepoetry.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=285"}],"version-history":[{"count":25,"href":"http:\/\/www.freerangepoetry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":456,"href":"http:\/\/www.freerangepoetry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285\/revisions\/456"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.freerangepoetry.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=285"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.freerangepoetry.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=285"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.freerangepoetry.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=285"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}